The present study introduces the Children's Daily Stress Inventory (Inventario Infantil de Estresores Cotidianos, IIEC) as a measure that assesses daily stress in primary school children. The inventory was applied to a sample of 1094 primary school students. The final version includes 25 dichotomic items covering the areas of health, school/peers, and family. The score is obtained by adding the total of positive answers. Analyses of items, reliability and several external pieces of evidence of validity based on relations with other variables are presented. The results show adequate psychometric properties for the assessment of daily stress in children. PMID:19861105

Brazilian physician and researcher Henrique da Rocha Lima was born in 1879 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he studied medicine and obtained the degree of M.D. in 1901. He specialized in Clinical Medicine in Germany and was the ambassador in European countries of the scientific medicine that emerged from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in the early twentieth century. Rocha Lima has discovered the causative agent of typhus and had a major contribution to the studies of yellow fever, Chagas disease, Carrión's disease and histoplasmosis. His genius, his research and his discoveries projected his name, and, with it, the image of Brazil in the international scientific scene. PMID:26131867

Brazilian physician and researcher Henrique da Rocha Lima was born in 1879 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he studied medicine and obtained the degree of M.D. in 1901. He specialized in Clinical Medicine in Germany and was the ambassador in European countries of the scientific medicine that emerged from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in the early twentieth century. Rocha Lima has discovered the causative agent of typhus and had a major contribution to the studies of yellow fever, Chagas disease, Carrión’s disease and histoplasmosis. His genius, his research and his discoveries projected his name, and, with it, the image of Brazil in the international scientific scene. PMID:26131867

Evidence from the drawings, experiments, and writings of Leonardo da Vinci are presented to demonstrate that da Vinci recognized and, possibly, discovered the downburst and understood its associated airflow. Other early references to vortex flows resembling downbursts are mentioned.

Our recent studies have shown that the difference in basal pain sensitivity to mechanical and thermal stimulation between Dark-Agouti (DA) rats and a novel congenic DA.1U rats is major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes dependent. In the present study, we further used DA and DA.1U rats to investigate the role of MHC genes in formalin-induced pain model by behavioral, electrophysiological and immunohistochemical methods. Behavioral results showed biphasic nociceptive behaviors increased significantly following the intraplantar injection of formalin in the hindpaw of DA and DA.1U rats. The main nociceptive behaviors were lifting and licking, especially in DA rats (P<0.001 and P<0.01). The composite pain scores (CPS) in DA rats were significantly higher than those in DA.1U rats in both phases of the formalin test (P<0.01). Electrophysiological results also showed the biphasic increase in discharge rates of C and Aδ fibers of L5 dorsal root in the two strains, and the net change of the discharge rate of DA rats was significantly higher than that of DA.1U rats (P<0.05). The mechanical thresholds decreased after formalin injection in both strains (P<0.01), and the net change in the mechanical threshold in DA was greater than that in DA.1U rats (P<0.05). The expression of RT1-B, representation of MHC class II molecule, in laminae I-II of L4/5 spinal cord in DA rats was significantly higher than that in DA.1U rats in the respective experimental group (P<0.05). These results suggested that both DA and DA.1U rats exhibited nociceptive responses in formalin-induced pain model and DA rats were more sensitive to noxious chemical stimulus than DA.1U rats, indicating that MHC genes might contribute to the difference in pain sensitivity. PMID:25861730

A new alternating donor-acceptor (D-A1-D-A2) copolymer containing two electron-deficient moieties, isoindigo and quinoxaline, was synthesized. The photovoltaic performance of this polymer could be improved by incorporating fluorine atoms into the quinoxaline units, resulting in an efficiency of 6.32%. This result highlights the attractive promise of D-A1-D-A2 copolymers for high-performance bulk heterojunction solar cells. PMID:24000353

Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) is a branch of computer aided drug discovery that relates chemical structures to biological activity. Two well established and related QSAR descriptors are two- and three-dimensional autocorrelation (2DA and 3DA). These descriptors encode the relative position of atoms or atom properties by calculating the separation between atom pairs in terms of number of bonds (2DA) or Euclidean distance (3DA). The sums of all values computed for a given small molecule are collected in a histogram. Atom properties can be added with a coefficient that is the product of atom properties for each pair. This procedure can lead to information loss when signed atom properties are considered such as partial charge. For example, the product of two positive charges is indistinguishable from the product of two equivalent negative charges. In this paper, we present variations of 2DA and 3DA called 2DA_Sign and 3DA_Sign that avoid information loss by splitting unique sign pairs into individual histograms. We evaluate these variations with models trained on nine datasets spanning a range of drug target classes. Both 2DA_Sign and 3DA_Sign significantly increase model performance across all datasets when compared with traditional 2DA and 3DA. Lastly, we find that limiting 3DA_Sign to maximum atom pair distances of 6 Å instead of 12 Å further increases model performance, suggesting that conformational flexibility may hinder performance with longer 3DA descriptors. Consistent with this finding, limiting the number of bonds in 2DA_Sign from 11 to 5 fails to improve performance. PMID:26721261

The Data Center Helper Suite DaCHS is an integrated publication package for building VO and Web services, supporting the entire workflow from ingestion to data mapping to service definition. It implements all major data discovery, data access, and registry protocols defined by the VO. DaCHS in this sense works as glue between data produced by the data providers and the standard protocols and formats defined by the VO. This paper discusses central elements of the design of the package and gives two case studies of how VO protocols are implemented using DaCHS' concepts.

Various proposals for the bifurcation of the white dwarf cooling sequence are reviewed. 'Primordial' theories, in which the basic bifurcation of the white dwarf sequence is rooted in events predating the white dwarf stage of stellar evolution, are discussed, along with the competing 'mixing' theories in which processes occurring during the white dwarf stage are responsible for the existence of DA or non-DA stars. A new proposal is suggested, representing a two-channel scenario. In the DA channel, some process reduces the hydrogen layer mass to the value of less than 10 to the -7th. The non-DA channel is similar to that in the primordial scenario. These considerations suggest that some mechanism operates in both channels to reduce the thickness of the outermost layer of the white dwarf. It is also noted that accretion from the interstellar medium has little to do with whether a particular white dwarf becomes a DA or a non-DA star.

The data presented here were taken during two shifts dedicated to D->A studies. The goal during both of these study periods was a test of the field quality of the D->A channel devices, but for the first study period on 10/21/91 the TBT system was not operational so we simply measured the transfer efficiency as a function of momentum. The conclusion from these measurements is as follows: (1) The momentum aperture of the D->A channel is smaller than expected. (2) The restriction is in physical space is somewhere near A:IKIK. (3) The field quality of the injection channel devices is adequate.

A recent study by the authors indicated that major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are associated with the differences in basal pain sensitivity and in formalin model between Dark-Agouti (DA) and novel congenic DA.1U rats, which have the same genetic background as DA rats except for the u alleles of MHC. The objective of the present study is to investigate whether there is a difference in the pristane-induced arthritis (PIA) model and local analgesic effect of octreotide (OCT) between DA and DA.1U rats. The hindpaw mechanical withdrawal threshold (MWT) and heat withdrawal latency (HWL) were observed. The C unit firings of the tibial nerve evoked by non-noxious and noxious toe movements were recorded by electrophysiological methods in normal and PIA models in DA and DA.1U rats before and after local OCT administration. The expression of somatostatin receptor 2A (SSTR2A) was observed by immunohistochemistry. The results demonstrate that DA rats have a higher mechanical sensitivity than DA.1U rats after PIA. Local OCT administration significantly elevated MWT in DA rats under normal and PIA sate, but not in DA.1U rats. The electrophysiological experiments showed OCT significantly attenuated the firings of C units evoked by non-noxious and noxious stimulation in DA rats more than those in DA.1U rats both in normal and PIA states. In addition, the expression of SSTR2A in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord was significantly higher in DA than in DA.1U rats. All of the findings suggest a higher local analgesic effect of OCT in DA rats than DA.1U rats, which might be associated with the MHC genes. PMID:26606866

Eight epidemics of respiratory disease have been observed among islanders of Tristan da Cunha. They seem to be initiated by the arrival of ships and transmission seemed to occur as a result of close human contact but could not always be traced. Islanders suffered from less colds than those in less isolated communities. PMID:5282927

The Online and Data Acquisition software groups at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have extended the VAXONLINE data acquisition package to include a VME based data path. The resulting environment, PAN-DA, provides a high throughput for logging, filtering, formatting and selecting events. 10 refs., 1 fig.

Three drawings on the back of Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin and Child with St Anne (circa 1508) have been discovered by researchers led by Michel Menu from the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF) and the Louvre Museum in Paris.

To be effective and relevant in twenty-first-century learning, art needs to be more inclusive. In this article, the author discusses how teachers can find a good example in Leonardo da Vinci for building an art program. His art, design, and curiosity are the perfect foundation for any art program, at any level. (Contains 3 resources and 3 online…

When a company name means "giving life," the bar for learning and development programs is held high. In this article, the author describes what it takes to graduate from DaVita Academy, the soft skills training program dialysis services company DaVita offers all its employees. DaVita's chief executive officer, Kent Thiry, states that the Academy…

The new Synchrotron Radiation facility at Frascati exploits the intense photon emission from DA{phi}NE, the 0,51 GeV storage ring circulating over 1 A of electrons. Among the three beamlines commissioned, the Synchrotron INfrared Beamline At Da{phi}ne (SINBAD) is fully operational by a brilliant SR beam spanning the entire IR. Recently, the soft X-ray beamline has been characterized and, once implemented the double-crystal monocromator, X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy is applied on material standards in the distinguishing energy region below 4 keV. An UltraViolet line, presently dedicated to photobiology dosimetry, has also given first results on cell irradiation in the UVB band.

Leonardo da Vinci was born in Italy. Among the researchers and scientists, he is favourably known for his remarkable efforts in scientific work. His investigations of atherosclerosis judiciously combine three separate fields of research. In 1506, he finished his masterpiece, painting of Mona Lisa. A careful clinical examination of the famous painting reveals a yellow irregular leather-like spot at the inner end of the left upper eyelid and a soft bumpy well-defined swelling of the dorsum of the right hand beneath the index finger about 3 cm long. This is probably the first case of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). The FH code of Leonardo da Vinci was given immense consideration by scientists like Carl Muller, who described the xanthomas tuberosum and angina pectoris. On the contrary, Akira Endo searched for microbial metabolites that would inhibit HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of cholesterol and finally, Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein published a remarkable series of elegant and insightful papers in the 70s and 80s. They established that the cellular uptake of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) essentially requires the LDL receptor. In conclusion: this was the real Code of Leonardo da Vinci. PMID:19924278

The Bunche-Da Vinci case described in this article presents a situation at Bunche Elementary School that four theorists were asked to address in their evaluation designs (see EJ791771, EJ719772, EJ791773, and EJ792694). The Bunche-Da Vinci Learning Partnership Academy, an elementary school located between an urban port city and a historically…

The syndrome variously called Da Costa's syndrome, effort syndrome, neurocirculatory asthenia, etc has been studied for more than 100 years by many distinguished physicians. Originally identified in men in wartime, it has been widely recognised as a common chronic condition in both sexes in civilian life. Although the symptoms may seem to appear after infections and various physical and psychological stresses, neurocirculatory asthenia is most often encountered as a familial disorder that is unrelated to these factors, although they may aggravate an existing tendency. Respiratory complaints (including breathlessness, with and without effort, and smothering sensations) are almost universal, and palpitation, chest discomfort, dizziness and faintness, and fatigue are common. The physical examination is normal. The aetiology is obscure but patients usually have a normal life span. Reassurance and measures to improve physical fitness are helpful. PMID:3314950

We report Keck telescope HIRES echelle observations of DA white dwarfs in a continuation of an extensive search for metals. These spectra are supplemented with new JHK magnitudes that are used to determine improved atmospheric parameters. Of the DA white dwarfs not in binary or common proper motion systems, about 25% show Ca II lines. For these, Ca abundances are determined from comparison with theoretical equivalent widths from model atmosphere calculations; in a few cases we also obtain Mg, Fe, Si, and Al abundances. If Ca is not observed, we generally determine very stringent upper limits. We compare the data to predictions of previously published models involving the accretion/diffusion of interstellar matter and of comets. The derived abundances are not obviously compatible with the predictions of either model, which up to now could only be tested with traces of metals in helium-rich white dwarfs. By modifying certain assumptions in the published interstellar accretion model we are able to match the distribution of the elements in the white dwarf atmospheres, but, even so, tests of other expectations from this scenario are less successful. Because comet accretion appears unlikely to be the primary cause of the DAZ phenomenon, the data suggest that no more than about 20% of F-type main-sequence stars are accompanied by Oort-like comet clouds. This represents the first observational estimate of this fraction. A plausible alternative to the accretion of cometary or interstellar matter is disruption and accretion of asteroidal material, a model first suggested in 1990 to explain excess near-infrared emission from the DAZ G29-38. An asteroidal debris model to account for the general DAZ phenomenon does not presently disagree with the HIRES data, but neither is there any compelling evidence in support of such a model. The HIRES data indicate that in close red dwarf/white dwarf binaries not known to be cataclysmic variables there is, nonetheless, significant mass

This study examined Leonardo da Vinci's rule (i.e., the sum of the cross-sectional area of all tree branches above a branching point at any height is equal to the cross-sectional area of the trunk or the branch immediately below the branching point) using simulations based on two biomechanical models: the uniform stress and elastic similarity models. Model calculations of the daughter/mother ratio (i.e., the ratio of the total cross-sectional area of the daughter branches to the cross-sectional area of the mother branch at the branching point) showed that both biomechanical models agreed with da Vinci's rule when the branching angles of daughter branches and the weights of lateral daughter branches were small; however, the models deviated from da Vinci's rule as the weights and/or the branching angles of lateral daughter branches increased. The calculated values of the two models were largely similar but differed in some ways. Field measurements of Fagus crenata and Abies homolepis also fit this trend, wherein models deviated from da Vinci's rule with increasing relative weights of lateral daughter branches. However, this deviation was small for a branching pattern in nature, where empirical measurements were taken under realistic measurement conditions; thus, da Vinci's rule did not critically contradict the biomechanical models in the case of real branching patterns, though the model calculations described the contradiction between da Vinci's rule and the biomechanical models. The field data for Fagus crenata fit the uniform stress model best, indicating that stress uniformity is the key constraint of branch morphology in Fagus crenata rather than elastic similarity or da Vinci's rule. On the other hand, mechanical constraints are not necessarily significant in the morphology of Abies homolepis branches, depending on the number of daughter branches. Rather, these branches were often in agreement with da Vinci's rule. PMID:24714065

The ATLAS Production and Distributed Analysis System (PanDA) is a key component of the ATLAS distributed computing infrastructure. All ATLAS production jobs, and a substantial amount of user and group analysis jobs, pass through the PanDA system, which manages their execution on the grid. PanDA also plays a key role in production task definition and the data set replication request system. PanDA has recently been migrated from Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), a process we describe here. We discuss how the new infrastructure for PanDA, which relies heavily on services provided by CERN IT, was introduced in order to make the service as reliable as possible and to allow it to be scaled to ATLAS's increasing need for distributed computing. The migration involved changing the backend database for PanDA from MySQL to Oracle, which impacted upon the database schemas. The process by which the client code was optimised for the new database backend is discussed. We describe the procedure by which the new database infrastructure was tested and commissioned for production use. Operations during the migration had to be planned carefully to minimise disruption to ongoing ATLAS offline computing. All parts of the migration were fully tested before commissioning the new infrastructure and the gradual migration of computing resources to the new system allowed any problems of scaling to be addressed.

The DA transporter (DAT), a phosphoprotein, controls extracellular dopamine (DA) levels in the central nervous system through transport or reverse transport (efflux). Multiple lines of evidence support the claim that PKC significantly contributes to amphetamine-induced DA efflux. Other signaling pathways, involving CaMKII and ERK, have also been shown to regulate DAT mediated efflux. Here we assessed the contribution of putative PKC residues (S4, S7, S13) in the N-terminal of the DAT to amphetamine-induced DA efflux by transfecting DATs containing different serine to alanine (S-A) point mutations into DA pre-loaded HEK-293 cells and incubating these cells in amphetamine (2μM). The effects of a S-A mutation at the non-PKC residue S12 and a threonine to alanine (T-A) mutation at the ERK T53 residue were also assessed for comparison. WT-DATs were used as controls. In an initial experiment, we confirmed that inhibiting PKC with Go6976 (130nM) significantly reduced amphetamine-induced DA efflux. In subsequent experiments, cells transfected with the S4A, S12A, S13A, T53A and S4,7,13A mutants showed a reduction in amphetamine-induced DA efflux similar to that observed with Go6976. Interestingly, cells transfected with the S7A mutant, identified by some as a PKC-PKA residue, showed unperturbed WT-DAT levels of amphetamine-induced DA efflux. These results indicate that phosphorylation by PKC of select residues in the DAT N-terminal can regulate amphetamine-induced efflux. PKC can act either independently or in concert with other kinases such as ERK to produce this effect. PMID:27113203

The Production and Distributed Analysis System (PanDA) plays a key role in the ATLAS distributed computing infrastructure. All ATLAS Monte-Carlo simulation and data reprocessing jobs pass through the PanDA system. We will describe how PanDA manages job execution on the grid using dynamic resource estimation and data replication together with intelligent brokerage in order to meet the scaling and automation requirements of ATLAS distributed computing. PanDA is also the primary ATLAS system for processing user and group analysis jobs, bringing further requirements for quick, flexible adaptation to the rapidly evolving analysis use cases of the early datataking phase, in addition to the high reliability, robustness and usability needed to provide efficient and transparent utilization of the grid for analysis users. We will describe how PanDA meets ATLAS requirements, the evolution of the system in light of operational experience, how the system has performed during the first LHC data-taking phase and plans for the future.

The PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) Workload Management System is used for ATLAS distributed production and analysis worldwide. The needs of ATLAS global computing imposed challenging requirements on the design of PanDA in areas such as scalability, robustness, automation, diagnostics, and usability for both production shifters and analysis users. Through a system-wide job database, the PanDA monitor provides a comprehensive and coherent view of the system and job execution, from high level summaries to detailed drill-down job diagnostics. It is (like the rest of PanDA) an Apache-based Python application backed by Oracle. The presentation layer is HTML code generated on the fly in the Python application which is also responsible for managing database queries. However, this approach is lacking in user interface flexibility, simplicity of communication with external systems, and ease of maintenance. A decision was therefore made to migrate the PanDA monitor server to Django Web Application Framework and apply JSON/AJAX technology in the browser front end. This allows us to greatly reduce the amount of application code, separate data preparation from presentation, leverage open source for tools such as authentication and authorization mechanisms, and provide a richer and more dynamic user experience. We describe our approach, design and initial experience with the migration process.

The Production and Distributed Analysis System (PanDA) plays a key role in the ATLAS distributed computing infrastructure. All ATLAS Monte-Carlo simulation and data reprocessing jobs pass through the PanDA system. We will describe how PanDA manages job execution on the grid using dynamic resource estimation and data replication together with intelligent brokerage in order to meet the scaling and automation requirements of ATLAS distributed computing. PanDA is also the primary ATLAS system for processing user and group analysis jobs, bringing further requirements for quick, flexible adaptation to the rapidly evolving analysis use cases of the early datataking phase, in addition to the high reliability, robustness and usability needed to provide efficient and transparent utilization of the grid for analysis users. We will describe how PanDA meets ATLAS requirements, the evolution of the system in light of operational experience, how the system has performed during the first LHC data-taking phase and plans for the future.

Few geomagnetic ground observations exist of the Earth's strongest core field anomaly, the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). The geomagnetic repeat station on the island Tristan da Cunha, located half-way between South Africa and South America at 37?? 05' S, 12?? 18' W, is therefore of crucial importance. We have conducted several sets of repeat station measurements during magnetically quiet conditions (Kp 2o or less) in 2004. The procedures are described and the results are compared to those from earlier campaigns and to the predictions of various global field models. Features of the local crustal bias field and the solar quiet daily variation are discussed. We also evaluate the benefit of continuous magnetic field recordings from Tristan da Cunha, and argue that such a data set is a very valuable addition to geomagnetic satellite data. Recently, funds were set up to establish and operate a magnetometer station on Tristan da Cunha during the Swarm magnetic satellite mission (2011-2014).

The Production and Distributed Analysis system (PanDA) in the ATLAS experiment uses pilots to execute submitted jobs on the worker nodes. The pilots are designed to deal with different runtime conditions and failure scenarios, and support many storage systems. This talk will give a brief overview of the PanDA pilot system and will present major features and recent improvements including CernVM File System integration, the job retry mechanism, advanced job monitoring including JEM technology, and validation of new pilot code using the HammerCloud stress-testing system. PanDA is used for all ATLAS distributed production and is the primary system for distributed analysis. It is currently used at over 130 sites worldwide. We analyze the performance of the pilot system in processing LHC data on the OSG, EGI and Nordugrid infrastructures used by ATLAS, and describe plans for its further evolution.

Latinas/os are deeply religious, and their way of expressing and experiencing God and life is often different from that of the U.S. dominant culture. With the importance of family, community, and the belief that God is actively present in daily life in a Latino context, this article explores the interplay between "la familia" as "locus…

Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) face unprecedented computing challenges. Heterogeneous resources are distributed worldwide at hundreds of sites, thousands of physicists analyse the data remotely, the volume of processed data is beyond the exabyte scale, while data processing requires more than a few billion hours of computing usage per year. The PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) system was developed to meet the scale and complexity of LHC distributed computing for the ATLAS experiment. In the process, the old batch job paradigm of locally managed computing in HEP was discarded in favour of a far more automated, flexible and scalable model. The success of PanDA in ATLAS is leading to widespread adoption and testing by other experiments. PanDA is the first exascale workload management system in HEP, already operating at more than a million computing jobs per day, and processing over an exabyte of data in 2013. There are many new challenges that PanDA will face in the near future, in addition to new challenges of scale, heterogeneity and increasing user base. PanDA will need to handle rapidly changing computing infrastructure, will require factorization of code for easier deployment, will need to incorporate additional information sources including network metrics in decision making, be able to control network circuits, handle dynamically sized workload processing, provide improved visualization, and face many other challenges. In this talk we will focus on the new features, planned or recently implemented, that are relevant to the next decade of distributed computing workload management using PanDA.

The majority of natural scenes contains zones that are visible to one eye only. Past studies have shown that these monocular regions can be seen at a precise depth even though there are no binocular disparities that uniquely constrain their locations in depth. In the so-called da Vinci stereopsis configuration, the monocular region is a vertical line placed next to a binocular rectangular occluder. The opacity of the occluder has been mentioned to be a necessary condition to obtain da Vinci stereopsis. However, this opacity constraint has never been empirically tested. In the present study, we tested whether da Vinci stereopsis and perceptual transparency can interact using a classical da Vinci configuration in which the opacity of the occluder varied. We used two different monocular objects: a line and a disk. We found no effect of the opacity of the occluder on the perceived depth of the monocular object. A careful analysis of the distribution of perceived depth revealed that the monocular object was perceived at a depth that increased with the distance between the object and the occluder. The analysis of the skewness of the distributions was not consistent with a double fusion explanation, favoring an implication of occlusion geometry in da Vinci stereopsis. A simple model that includes the geometry of the scene could account for the results. In summary, the mechanism responsible to locate monocular regions in depth is not sensitive to the material properties of objects, suggesting that da Vinci stereopsis is solved at relatively early stages of disparity processing. PMID:21906614

Publishing to the Virtual Observatory has many advantages, but between standards compliance, registration, data organisation, and server operation it is also requires a nontrivial effort if starting from scratch. The DaCHS software from the German Astrophysical Virtual Observatory offers a packaged solution letting publishers concentrate on working with their own data and metadata as much as possible. For the planetary community, publishing is further facilitated by built-in support for the EPN-TAP data model. This contribution will show a typical publishing workflow together with a brief overview of how DaCHS meshes in with the VO and Web-based data usage.

Echoes from the near-earth object 1986 DA show it to be significantly more reflective than other radar-detected asteroids. This result supports the hypothesis that 1986 DA is a piece of NiFe metal derived from the interior of a much larger object that melted, differentiated, cooled, and subsequently was disrupted in a catastrophic collision. This 2-kilometer asteroid, which appears smooth at centimeter to meter scales but extremely irregular at 10- to 100-meter scales, might be (or have been a part of) the parent body of some iron meteorites.

To elucidate the domains on the extrinsic 23 kDa protein involved in electrostatic interaction with the extrinsic 33 kDa protein in spinach photosystem II, we modified amino or carboxyl groups of the 23 kDa protein to uncharged methyl ester groups with N-succinimidyl propionate or glycine methyl ester in the presence of a water-soluble carbodiimide, respectively. The N-succinimidyl propionate-modified 23 kDa protein did not bind to the 33 kDa protein associated with PSII membranes, whereas the glycine methyl ester-modified 23 kDa protein completely bound. This indicates that positive charges on the 23 kDa protein are important for electrostatic interaction with the 33 kDa protein associated with the PSII membranes. Mapping of the N-succinimidyl propionate-modified sites of the 23 kDa protein was performed using Staphylococcus V8 protease digestion of the modified protein followed by determination of the mass of the resultant peptide fragments with MALDI-TOF MS. The results showed that six domains (Lys11-Lys14, Lys27-Lys38, Lys40, Lys90-Lys96, Lys143-Lys152, Lys166-Lys174) were modified with N-succinimidyl propionate. In these domains, Lys11, Lys13, Lys33, Lys38, Lys143, Lys166, Lys170 and Lys174 were wholly conserved in the 23 kDa protein from 12 species of higher plants. These positively charged lysyl residues on the 23 kDa protein may be involved in electrostatic interactions with the negatively charged carboxyl groups on the 33 kDa protein, the latter has been suggested to be important for the 23 kDa binding [Bricker, T.M. & Frankel, L.K. (2003) Biochemistry42, 2056-2061]. PMID:15009208

Radar observations of the near-Earth asteroid 1986 DA were carried out at the Arecibo Observatory in April 1986, two months after its discovery. Radar results are consistent with the hypothesis that 1986 HA is a piece of NiFe metal derived from the interior of a much larger object that melted, differentiated, cooled and subsequently was disrupted in a catastrophic collision. This 2-km asteroid might be (or have been part of) the parent body of some iron meteorites. Or 1986 DA might share the parentage and/or part of the dynamical history of some meteorites without ever having contributed any of its own ejecta to our meteorite sample. Analysis of the samples returned from 1986 DA might ultimately involve economic considerations. Meteoritic metal is mostly iron with about 8 percent nickel, but also contains substantial concentrations of precious and strategic metals, including approx. 1 ppm of gold and approx. 10 ppm of platinum group elements. If these abundances apply to 1986 DA, it contains some 10(exp 16) g of iron, 10 (exp 15) g of nickel, 10(exp 11) g of platinum group metals, and 10(exp 10) g of gold.

Commission of the European Communities, Brussels (Belgium). Directorate-General for Education and Culture.

This document profiles programs in the fields of health and medicine that are offered through the European Commission's Leonardo da Vinci program. The following programs are profiled: (1) CYTOTRAIN (a transnational vocational training program in cervical cancer screening); (2) Apollo (a program of open and distance learning for paramedical…

Provides an overview of the DaVinci Project, a collaboration of students, teachers, and researchers in chemistry and art to develop multimedia materials for grades 3-12 visualizing basic concepts in chemistry and visual art. Topics addressed include standards in art and science; the conceptual framework for the project; and project goals,…

The study of the human form is fundamental to both science and art curricula. For vertebrates, perhaps no feature is more important than the skeleton to determine observable form and function. As Leonard da Vinci's famous Proportions of the Human Figure (Virtruvian Man) illustrates, the size, shape, and proportions of the human body are defined by…

Commission of the European Communities, Brussels (Belgium). Directorate-General for Education and Culture.

This document profiles recent successful examples of students studying and working abroad as part of the European Commission's Leonardo da Vinci program, which is designed to give students across the European Union the opportunity to experience vocational training in a foreign country. The following examples are presented: (1) 3 Finnish students…

The processes of defining managerial roles and providing for delegation of authority are essential to any enterprise. At most large organizations, these processes are defined in policy manuals and through sets of standard operating procedures for many, if not all, business and administrative functions. Many of these staff-initiated, administrative functions require the routing of documents for approval to one or more levels of management. These employee-oriented, back office types of workflows tend to require more flexibility in determining to whom these documents should go to, while, at the same time, providing the responsible parties with the flexibility to delegate their approval authority or allow others to review their work. Although this practice is commonplace in manual, paper-based processes that exist in many organizations, it is difficult to provide the same flexibility in the more structured, electronic-based, workflow systems. The purpose of this report is to present a framework or architecture for creating a R/DA system and provide some insights associated with its design and utilization. To improve understanding and clarify subsequent discussion, the goals and requirements for the major R/DA system components, namely, the database and interface modules, are initially presented along with the identification of important concepts and the definition of critical terms. Next high-level functions relating the types of inputs to the outputs of the R/DA interface module are introduced and discussed. Then the relationships between the major R/DA modules and the primary components associated with its creation and maintenance are presented and analyzed. Finally, some conclusions are drawn relative to the advantages associated with developing a R/DA system for use in implementing an enterprise-wide, work-facilitating information system.

The 32 kDa herbicide binding protein of PSII is degraded rapidly in the light. This phenomenon was investigated in Spirodela oligorrhiza. When fronds were radiolabeled in the presence of cycloheximide only the chloroplast-encoded proteins were labeled. Under these conditions, a breakdown product of 23.5 kDa was observed. This polypeptide was further degraded with kinetics similar to that of the 32 kDa protein. The 23.5 kDa polypeptide cross-reacted with an antibody specific to the 32 kDa protein. By protease digestion it was determined that the 23.5 kDa polypeptide is the intact N-terminal piece of the 32 kDa protein. Thus, this product corresponds to the membrane anchor of the 32 kDa protein. Using the same antibody, breakdown products of 16 kDa, 14 kDa and 12 kDa were observed. These products have also been observed in Zea mays and Solanum nigrum. Using DCMU during pulse-chase experiments at different light intensities, evidence was obtained that the 23.5 kDa breakdown product is generated in vivo.

Background The incorporation of annotated sequence information from multiple related species in commonly used databases (Ensembl, Flybase, Saccharomyces Genome Database, Wormbase, etc.) has increased dramatically over the last few years. This influx of information has provided a considerable amount of raw material for evaluation of evolutionary relationships. To aid in the process, we have developed JCoDA (Java Codon Delimited Alignment) as a simple-to-use visualization tool for the detection of site specific and regional positive/negative evolutionary selection amongst homologous coding sequences. Results JCoDA accepts user-inputted unaligned or pre-aligned coding sequences, performs a codon-delimited alignment using ClustalW, and determines the dN/dS calculations using PAML (Phylogenetic Analysis Using Maximum Likelihood, yn00 and codeml) in order to identify regions and sites under evolutionary selection. The JCoDA package includes a graphical interface for Phylip (Phylogeny Inference Package) to generate phylogenetic trees, manages formatting of all required file types, and streamlines passage of information between underlying programs. The raw data are output to user configurable graphs with sliding window options for straightforward visualization of pairwise or gene family comparisons. Additionally, codon-delimited alignments are output in a variety of common formats and all dN/dS calculations can be output in comma-separated value (CSV) format for downstream analysis. To illustrate the types of analyses that are facilitated by JCoDA, we have taken advantage of the well studied sex determination pathway in nematodes as well as the extensive sequence information available to identify genes under positive selection, examples of regional positive selection, and differences in selection based on the role of genes in the sex determination pathway. Conclusions JCoDA is a configurable, open source, user-friendly visualization tool for performing evolutionary

The novel The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown has been on best-seller lists for over two years. An examination of Brown's previous novels reveals a well-designed plot line shared by all four novels that not only makes them good "thrillers" but also creates a mythological structure to the novels that draws on common unconscious fantasies in the same way that fairy tales do. One aspect of this mythological structure is the use of evil conspiracies (and benign ones as well) for the protagonist to overcome. In addition, The Da Vinci Code presents a religious theme involving legends about Mary Magdalene. This theme touches on the role of a feminine aspect to divinity in allowing for an erotic connection with the divine. PMID:16448349

Robot-assisted surgery using the da Vinci surgical system has attracted attention because of excellent operability without shaking by joint forceps under the clear vision of a three-dimensional high-definition camera in lung cancer surgery. Although this form of advanced medical care is not yet approved for insurance coverage, it is at the stage of clinical research and expected to be useful in hilar exposure, lymph node dissection, and suturing of the lung parenchyma or bronchus. Lung cancer surgery with the da Vinci system has the advantage of combining thoracotomy and minimally invasive surgery in video-assisted thoracic surgery. However, safety management, education, and significant cost are problems to be resolved. Several important issues such as sharing knowledge and technology of robotic surgery, education, training, development of new instruments, and acquisition of advanced medical insurance are discussed for the future development of robotic surgical systems. PMID:24946522

For several of Leonardo da Vinci's paintings, such as The Virgin and Child with St Anne or the Mona Lisa, there exist copies produced by his own studio. In case of the Mona Lisa, a quite exceptional, rediscovered studio copy was presented to the public in 2012 by the Prado Museum in Madrid. Not only does it mirror its famous counterpart superficially; it also features the very same corrections to the lower layers, which indicates that da Vinci and the 'copyist' must have elaborated their panels simultaneously. On the basis of subjective (thirty-two participants estimated painter-model constellations) as well as objective data (analysis of trajectories between landmarks of both paintings), we revealed that both versions differ slightly in perspective. We reconstructed the original studio setting and found evidence that the disparity between both paintings mimics human binocular disparity. This points to the possibility that the two Giocondas together might represent the first stereoscopic image in world history. PMID:24303752

We present the Tool for Astrophysical Data Analysis (TA-DA), a new software aimed to greatly simplify and improve the analysis of stellar photometric data in comparison with theoretical models, and allow the derivation of stellar parameters from multi-band photometry. Its flexibility allows one to address a number of such problems: from the interpolation of stellar models, or sets of stellar physical parameters in general, to the computation of synthetic photometry in arbitrary filters or units; from the analysis of observed color-magnitude diagrams to a Bayesian derivation of stellar parameters (and extinction) based on multi-band data. TA-DA is available as a pre-compiled Interactive Data Language widget-based application; its graphical user interface makes it considerably user-friendly. In this paper, we describe the software and its functionalities.

The da Vinci Robotic System (Intuitive Surgical, Mountain View, CA) became available at the General Surgery Department of Camposampiero Hospital in May 2001. From May 2001 to October 2002, 139 robotic operations were performed, one of which was a right adrenalectomy for a right adrenal mass. The progressive growth of the mass was the indication for surgical excision. Surgical adrenalectomy was successfully completed with da Vinci Robotic System using 5 ports (3 for the robotic system, 2 as service trocars). The wrist-like movements of the instrument's tip easily enabled the detachment of the right hepatic lobe from the gland and vessel isolation, while the 3-dimensional vision facilitated dissection of the veins from the vena cava. PMID:15259586

Metabolic engineering is often facilitated by cloning of genes encoding enzymes from various heterologous organisms into E. coli. Such engineering efforts are frequently hampered by foreign genes that are toxic to the E. coli host. We have developed PanDaTox (www.weizmann.ac.il/pandatox), a web-based resource that provides experimental toxicity information for more than 1.5 million genes from hundreds of different microbial genomes. The toxicity predictions, which were extensively experimentally verified, are based on serial cloning of genes into E. coli as part of the Sanger whole genome shotgun sequencing process. PanDaTox can accelerate metabolic engineering projects by allowing researchers to exclude toxic genes from the engineering plan and verify the clonability of selected genes before the actual metabolic engineering experiments are conducted.

The robotic surgery has come through the development of telemedicine and minimally invasive surgery concepts, being developed in the military medicine by NASA during the years 1970-1980. The purpose of this paper is to briefly present our experience in the new field of the robotic surgery, by analyzing the results obtained over a lot of 20 patients operated with the "da Vinci" robot within the last 5 years in the Clinical Emergency Hospital Bucharest for various abdominal defects. PMID:22802899

The security challenges faced by users of the grid are considerably different to those faced in previous environments. The adoption of pilot jobs systems by LHC experiments has mitigated many of the problems associated with the inhomogeneities found on the grid and has greatly improved job reliability; however, pilot jobs systems themselves must then address many security issues, including the execution of multiple users' code under a common 'grid' identity. In this paper we describe the improvements and evolution of the security model in the ATLAS PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) system. We describe the security in the PanDA server which is in place to ensure that only authorized members of the VO are allowed to submit work into the system and that jobs are properly audited and monitored. We discuss the security in place between the pilot code itself and the PanDA server, ensuring that only properly authenticated workload is delivered to the pilot for execution. When the code to be executed is from a 'normal' ATLAS user, as opposed to the production system or other privileged actor, then the pilot may use an EGEE developed identity switching tool called gLExec. This changes the grid proxy available to the job and also switches the UNIX user identity to protect the privileges of the pilot code proxy. We describe the problems in using this system and how they are overcome. Finally, we discuss security drills which have been run using PanDA and show how these improved our operational security procedures.

Rice, the staple food of South and East Asian counties, is considered to be hypoallergenic. However, several clinical studies have documented rice-induced allergy in sensitive patients. Rice proteins with molecular weights of 14-16 kDa, 26 kDa, 33 kDa and 56 kDa have been identified as allergens. Re...

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease that involves disorders such as diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy, and diabetic hearing loss. Recently, neurotrophin has become a treatment target that has shown to be an attractive alternative in recovering auditory function altered by DM. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of DA9801, a mixture of Dioscorea nipponica and Dioscorea japonica extracts, in the auditory function damage produced in a STZ-induced diabetic model and to provide evidence of the mechanisms involved in enhancing these protective effects. We found a potential application of DA9801 on hearing impairment in the STZ-induced diabetic model, demonstrated by reducing the deterioration produced by DM in ABR threshold in response to clicks and normalizing wave I–IV latencies and Pa latencies in AMLR. We also show evidence that these effects might be elicited by inducing NGF related through Nr3c1 and Akt. Therefore, this result suggests that the neuroprotective effects of DA9801 on the auditory damage produced by DM may be affected by NGF increase resulting from Nr3c1 via Akt transformation. PMID:25878713

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease that involves disorders such as diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy, and diabetic hearing loss. Recently, neurotrophin has become a treatment target that has shown to be an attractive alternative in recovering auditory function altered by DM. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of DA9801, a mixture of Dioscorea nipponica and Dioscorea japonica extracts, in the auditory function damage produced in a STZ-induced diabetic model and to provide evidence of the mechanisms involved in enhancing these protective effects. We found a potential application of DA9801 on hearing impairment in the STZ-induced diabetic model, demonstrated by reducing the deterioration produced by DM in ABR threshold in response to clicks and normalizing wave I-IV latencies and Pa latencies in AMLR. We also show evidence that these effects might be elicited by inducing NGF related through Nr3c1 and Akt. Therefore, this result suggests that the neuroprotective effects of DA9801 on the auditory damage produced by DM may be affected by NGF increase resulting from Nr3c1 via Akt transformation. PMID:25878713

Data assimilation methods provide a means to handle the modeling errors and uncertainties in sophisticated ocean models. In this study, we have created an OpenDA-NEMO framework unlocking the data assimilation tools available in OpenDA for use with NEMO models. This includes data assimilation methods, automatic parallelization, and a recently implemented automatic localization algorithm that removes spurious correlations in the model based on uncertainties in the computed Kalman gain matrix. We have set up a twin experiment where we assimilate sea surface height (SSH) satellite measurements. From the experiments, we can conclude that the OpenDA-NEMO framework performs as expected and that the automatic localization significantly improves the performance of the data assimilation algorithm by successfully removing spurious correlations. Based on these results, it looks promising to extend the framework with new kinds of observations and work on improving the computational speed of the automatic localization technique such that it becomes feasible to include large number of observations.

The Production and Distributed Analysis system (PanDA) [1-2] was designed to meet ATLAS [3] requirements for a data-driven workload management system capable of operating at LHC data processing scale. Submitted jobs are executed on worker nodes by pilot jobs sent to the grid sites by pilot factories. This paper provides an overview of the PanDA pilot [4] system and presents major features added in light of recent operational experience, including multi-job processing, advanced job recovery for jobs with output storage failures, gLExec [5-6] based identity switching from the generic pilot to the actual user, and other security measures. The PanDA system serves all ATLAS distributed processing and is the primary system for distributed analysis; it is currently used at over 100 sites worldwide. We analyze the performance of the pilot system in processing real LHC data on the OSG [7], EGI [8] and Nordugrid [9-10] infrastructures used by ATLAS, and describe plans for its evolution.

Many different agents, including mineral oil and silicone, have the capacity to act as immunological adjuvants, i.e., they can contribute to the activation of the immune system. Some adjuvants, including mineral oil, are known to induce arthritis in certain strains of rats after intradermal injection or percutaneous application. The aim of this study was to determine if common commercial cosmetic products containing mineral oil could induce arthritis in the highly susceptible DA (Dark Agouti) rat. Intradermal injection of five out of eight assayed cosmetic products without further additives resulted in arthritis with synovitis. One of the products induced a very aggressive arthritis, which had declined after 5-9 weeks. When this product was also assayed for arthritogenicity upon percutaneous administration, it induced a mild and transient arthritis in 5 out of 10 DA rats, whereas control animals showed no clinical signs of joint involvement. No arthritic reaction was seen in rats after peroral feeding with the most arthritogenic product or by intravaginal application of Freund's adjuvants. Silicone gel implants in DA rats did not cause arthritis. We conclude that mineral oils included in common commercially available products retain their adjuvant properties and are arthritogenic in the presently investigated arthritis-prone rat strain. There is yet no evidence that mineral oils present in cosmetics may contribute to arthritis in humans, but we suggest that this question should be subject to further investigation. Images Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 PMID:9417771

Data assimilation methods provide a means to handle the modeling errors and uncertainties in sophisticated ocean models. In this study, we have created an OpenDA-NEMO framework unlocking the data assimilation tools available in OpenDA for use with NEMO models. This includes data assimilation methods, automatic parallelization, and a recently implemented automatic localization algorithm that removes spurious correlations in the model based on uncertainties in the computed Kalman gain matrix. We have set up a twin experiment where we assimilate sea surface height (SSH) satellite measurements. From the experiments, we can conclude that the OpenDA-NEMO framework performs as expected and that the automatic localization significantly improves the performance of the data assimilation algorithm by successfully removing spurious correlations. Based on these results, it looks promising to extend the framework with new kinds of observations and work on improving the computational speed of the automatic localization technique such that it becomes feasible to include large number of observations.

Pharmaceutical is one of the allied branches of science, which is closely associated with Medical science. Today pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacognosy are playing important role in treatment for a disease and its prevention. Herbal medicines are being used by about 80% of the world population mostly in the developing countries in the primary health care. There has been an upsurge in demand for the Phyto-pharmaceutical products of Ayurvĕda in western nations, because of the fact that the synthetic drugs are considered to be unsafe. Due to this many national and multinational pharmaceutical companies are now concentrating on manufacturing of Ayurvĕdic Phyto-pharmaceutical products. Ayurvĕda is the Indian traditional system of medicine, which also deals about pharmaceutical science. The Ayurvĕdic knowledge of the pharmaceutical science is scattered in Ayurvĕdic classical texts. Săranghadhara Samhita, which is written by Săranghadhara, explain systematically about the information of the Ayurvĕdic pharmaceutical science and also updated it. Industrialized manufacturing of Ayurvĕdic dosage forms has brought in new challenges like deviation from basic concepts of medicine preparation. Săranghadhara Samrhită the devout text on pharmaceutics in Ayurvĕda comes handy to solve such problems, as the methods described are very lucid and easy to follow. PMID:17333665

The "Colóquios dos simples e drogas he cousas medicinais de Índia" (Conversations on the simples, drugs and medicinal substances of India) (1563) of Garcia da Orta is a botanical and pharmacognosy book. The author is a Portuguese physician who studied in the Spanish universities and practiced medicine mainly in India. He studies in short chapters presented in the form of dialogues about sixty simples. Sources to which he refers are indicative of a "classical" training, but also the mark of a curious and open mind to different cultures. The Arabic sources are numerous and mainly concern the identification of substances by abundant synonyms of their names in foreign languages and different medicinal uses that may have been done by the ancient physicians. However, Da Orta is critical with respect to these sources, seeking contradictions and differences of opinion among authors. He confronts them with the oral information collected thanks to a wide network of contacts. PMID:26529894

This paper is a comparative ethnography of the therapeutic practices at two different spa locations: Caldas da Imperatriz, SC, Brazil, and Termas da Sulfurea in Cabeco de Vide, Portugal. The comparison reveals the existence of contrasting 'explanatory models' held by the spa-goers as well as by the official medical systems. In the Portuguese context this model is highly medicalized; in the Brazilian case, spa treatments are viewed as 'alternative' or 'complementary' therapy and are also related to religious philosophies. Each model corresponds to a different idiom expressing certain experiences and world views, one focusing on 'pains' (dores) and the other on 'energy' (energia), the former leading to the rationale of 'curing', the latter to the notion of 'energizing'. In this paper the author intends to analyze and contrast the categories found in these models, which originate from different conceptions of health, illness and healing for Brazilian and Portuguese spa-goers. PMID:21563001

Thrombin plays a critical role in platelet activation, hemostasis, and thrombosis. Cellular activation by thrombin leads to the phosphorylation of multiple proteins, most of which are unidentified. The authors have characterized several 29-kDa proteins that are rapidly phosphorylated following exposure of intact human platelets to thrombin. A murine monoclonal antibody raised to an unidentified estrogen receptor-related 29-kDa protein selectively recognized these proteins as well as a more basic, unphosphorylated 27-kDa protein. Cellular activation by thrombin led to a marked shift in the proportion of protein from the 27-kDa unphosphorylated form to the 29-kDa phosphoprotein species. Using this antibody, they isolated and sequenced a human cDNA clone encoding a protein that was identical to the mammalian 27-kDa heat shock protein (HSP27), a protein of uncertain function that is known to be phosphorylated to several forms and to be transcriptionally induced by estrogen. The 29-kDa proteins were confirmed to be phosphorylated forms of HSP27 by immunoprecipitation studies. Thus, the estrogen receptor-related protein is HSP27, and the three major 20-kDa proteins phosphorylated in thrombin-activated platelets are forms of HSP27. These data suggest a role for HSP27 in the signal transduction events of platelet activation.

Recent findings support the premise that chaperonins (60 kDa stress-proteins) and alpha-subunits of F-type ATPases (alpha-ATPase) are evolutionary related protein families. Two-dimensional gel patterns of synthesized proteins in unstressed and heat-shocked embryonic Drosophila melanogaster SL2 cells revealed that antibodies raised against the alpha-subunit of the F1-ATPase complex from rat liver recognize an inducible p71 member of the 70 kDa stress-responsive protein family. Molecular recognition of this stress-responsive 70 kDa protein by antibodies raised against the F1-ATPase alpha-subunit suggests the possibility of partial sequence similarity within these ATP-binding protein families. A multiple sequence alignment between alpha-ATPases and 60 kDa and 70 kDa molecular chaperones is presented. Statistical evaluation of sequence similarity reveals a significant degree of sequence conservation within the three protein families. The finding suggests a common evolutionary origin for the ATPases and molecular chaperone protein families of 60 kDa and 70 kDa, despite the lack of obvious structural resemblance between them. PMID:9065788

INTRODUCTION New laparoscopic techniques put distance between the surgeon and his patient. PRESENTATION OF CASE 3D volume rendered images directly displayed in the da Vinci surgeon's console fill this gap by allowing the surgeon to fully immerse in its intervention. DISCUSSION During the robotic operation the surgeon has a greater control on the procedure because he can stay more focused not being obliged to turn is sight out of his operative field. Moreover, thanks to depth perception of the rendered images he had a precise view of important anatomical structures. CONCLUSION We describe our preliminary experience in the quest of computer-assisted robotic surgery. PMID:23466685

The crystal structure of the C-terminal domain of a putative U32 peptidase from G. thermoleovorans is reported; it is one of the most tightly packed protein structures reported to date. While small organic molecules generally crystallize forming tightly packed lattices with little solvent content, proteins form air-sensitive high-solvent-content crystals. Here, the crystallization and full structure analysis of a novel recombinant 10 kDa protein corresponding to the C-terminal domain of a putative U32 peptidase are reported. The orthorhombic crystal contained only 24.5% solvent and is therefore among the most tightly packed protein lattices ever reported.

A novel pipeline digital-to-analog converter configuration, based on switched-capacitor techniques, is described. An n-bit D/A conversion can be implemented by cascading n + 1 unit cells. The device count of the circuit increases linearly, not exponentially, with the conversion accuracy. The new configuration can be pipelined. Hence, the conversion rate can be increased without requiring a higher clock rate. An experimental 10-bit DAC prototype has been fabricated using a 3-micron CMOS process. The results show that high-speed, high-accuracy, and low-power operation can be achieved without special process or postprocess trimming.

It is well known that Leonardo da Vinci made several drawings of the human male anatomy. The early drawings (before 1500) were incorrect in identifying the origin of semen, where he followed accepted teaching of his time. It is widely thought that he did not correct this mistake, a view that is reflected in several biographies. In fact, he made a later drawing (after 1500) in which the description of the anatomy is remarkably accurate and must have been based on careful dissection. In addition to highlighting this fact, acknowledged previously in only one other source, this article reviews the background to Leonardo's knowledge of the relevant anatomy. PMID:27494016

Intraoperative tracking of laparoscopic instruments is a prerequisite to realize further assistance functions. Since endoscopic images are always available, this sensor input can be used to localize the instruments without special devices or robot kinematics. In this paper, we present an image-based markerless 3D tracking of different da Vinci instruments in near real-time without an explicit model. The method is based on different visual cues to segment the instrument tip, calculates a tip point and uses a multiple object particle filter for tracking. The accuracy and robustness is evaluated with in vivo data.

We usually display a laid-back approach to medical jargon throughout our theatre work. The word 'perioperative' is built from the Greek word 'peri' (around) and the Latin 'operari' (to work). Latin and Greek became the prefixed language of choice for Leonardo da Vinci, and his research was pivotal in determining the way in which surgical procedures are documented. Ancient manuscripts aided the unfolding of the secrets of anatomy, and Leonardo revealed that art was the key in expressive detailed explanation. PMID:23248927

An important foundation underlying the impressive success of data processing and analysis in the ATLAS experiment [1] at the LHC [2] is the Production and Distributed Analysis (PanDA) workload management system [3]. PanDA was designed specifically for ATLAS and proved to be highly successful in meeting all the distributed computing needs of the experiment. However, the core design of PanDA is not experiment specific. The PanDA workload management system is capable of meeting the needs of other data intensive scientific applications. Alpha-Magnetic Spectrometer [4], an astro-particle experiment on the International Space Station, and the Compact Muon Solenoid [5], an LHC experiment, have successfully evaluated PanDA and are pursuing its adoption. In this paper, a description of the new program of work to develop a generic version of PanDA will be given, as well as the progress in extending PanDA's capabilities to support supercomputers and clouds and to leverage intelligent networking. PanDA has demonstrated at a very large scale the value of automated dynamic brokering of diverse workloads across distributed computing resources. The next generation of PanDA will allow other data-intensive sciences and a wider exascale community employing a variety of computing platforms to benefit from ATLAS' experience and proven tools.

The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system plays a key role in drug reinforcement and is involved in the development of alcohol addiction. Manipulation of the DAergic system represents a promising strategy to control drug-seeking behavior. Previous studies on 2-amino-N-[2-(3,4-dihydroxy-phenyl)-ethyl]-3-phenyl-propionamide (DA-Phen) showed in vivo effects as a DA-ergic modulator. This study was aimed at investigate DA-Phen effects on operant behavior for alcohol seeking behavior, during reinstatement following subsequent periods of alcohol deprivation. For this purpose, male Wistar rats were tested in an operant paradigm of self-administration; behavioral reactivity and anxiety like-behavior during acute abstinence were evaluated. A characterization of DA-Phen CNS targeting by its quantification in the brain was also carried out. Our findings showed that DA-Phen administration was able to reduce relapse in alcohol drinking by 50% and reversed the alterations in behavioral reactivity and emotionality observed during acute abstinence. In conclusion, DA-Phen can reduce reinstatement of alcohol drinking in an operant-drinking paradigm following deprivation periods and reverse abstinence-induced behavioral phenotype. DA-Phen activity seems to be mediated by the modulation of the DAergic transmission. However further studies are needed to characterize DA-Phen pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties, and its potential therapeutic profile in alcohol addiction. PMID:27155501

Recorded in Da he wai ke (The External Medicine of Da He) in the Ming dynasty without a corresponding disease title in contemporary scholarly concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Chiding disease was described as an acute symptomatic disease with inevitable serious conditions of convulsion-like or mania-like behavior, and as a refractory ailment. It was also considered as an alias of Hongsiding (namely the acute lymphangitis) in few ancient books. Matixiang, a Chinese herb for treatment of Chiding, was regarded as a nonsuch drug by Da he wai ke, and was considered as a take-then-cure drug by Chuang yang jing yan quan shu (Compendium for Experience in Sores Diseases). The present studies about Chiding and Matixiang show that: (1) the name of Chiding was first seen in Zhong zang jing (Master Hua's Classic of the Viscera) ; (2) Chiding was rarely mentioned in medical literature of the Song, Yuan and Qing Dynasty, but mostly seen in the Ming Dynasty; (3) Xinding and Huoyanding were found as synonyms of Chiding ; (4) the distinction between Chiding and Hongsiding (flaming sore) was revealed by comparison analysis of their etiology, affected part(s), symptoms, prognosis and syndromic pictures; (5) Chiding on the tongue is the same as "Tongue Ding" or "Sublingual Ding" in contemporary TCM and as "Sublingual Space Infection" in Western Medicine. Moreover, Chiding on the hands, feet or other skin parts could be classified as "Hands/Feet Ding" in contemporary TCM and as "Furuncle" (i.e., Acute Suppurative Folliculitis and Perifolliculitis or cellulites of the tongue) in Western Medicine; (6) Matixiang is probably deduced as Asarum forbesii Maxim., A. ichangense C. Y. Cheng et C. S. Yang, family Aristolochiaceae, or Valeriana jatamansi Jones., family Valerianaceae. PMID:23363849

As part of a multiwavelength study of the unusual radio supernova remnant DA 495, we present observations made with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Imaging and spectroscopic analysis confirms the previously detected X-ray source at the heart of the annular radio nebula, establishing the radiative properties of two key emission components: a soft unresolved source with a blackbody temperature of 1 MK consistent with a neutron star, surrounded by a nontherma1 nebula 40" in diameter exhibiting a power-law spectrum with photon index Gamma = 1.63, typical of a pulsar wind nebula. Morphologically, the nebula appears to be slightly extended along a direction, in projection on the sky, previously demonstrated to be of significance in radio and ASCA observations; we argue that this represents the orientation of the pulsar spin axis. At smaller scales, a narrow X-ray feature is seen extending out 5" from the point source, but energetic arguments suggest that it is not the resolved termination shock of the pulsar wind against the ambient medium. Finally, we argue based on synchrotron lifetimes in the nebular magnetic field that DA 495 represents the first example of a pulsar wind nebula in which electromagnetic flux makes up a significant part, together with particle flux, of the neutron star's wind.

Multiwavelength observations of the star WD 0334-6400 (or Ret 1 in A Catalog and Altas of Cataclysmic Variables: Living Edition) show it to be a DA+dMe binary. Our analysis of the far-ultraviolet continuum and spectral lines reveal that Teff = 36500 K; log g = 7.7; and the photosphere contains C, N, O, Si, P, and S. C/H = 2 x 10-6, which is the highest abundance seen in a DA white dwarf at this temperature. The dMe star is seen as a flux excess in near-infrared photometry and appears to show occasional flaring of about one magnitude as seen in the Harvard plates. There is no evidence of periodic variability in the spectroscopic or photometric data. This paper is based on observations made with the NASA-CNES-CSA FUSE. This research is partially supported by NASA FUSE grants NAG5-12413 and NNG04GL18G.

Neuronal loss is a major neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The associations between soluble Aβ oligomers and cellular components cause this neurotoxicity. The 37 kDa/67 kDa laminin receptor (LRP/LR) has recently been implicated in Aβ pathogenesis. In this study the mechanism underlying the pathological role of LRP/LR was elucidated. Försters Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) revealed that LRP/LR and Aβ form a biologically relevant interaction. The ability of LRP/LR to form stable associations with endogenously shed Aβ was confirmed by pull down assays and Aβ-ELISAs. Antibody blockade of this association significantly lowered Aβ42 induced apoptosis. Furthermore, antibody blockade and shRNA mediated downregulation of LRP/LR significantly hampered Aβ42 internalization. These results suggest that LRP/LR is a receptor for Aβ42 internalization, mediating its endocytosis and contributing to the cytotoxicity of the neuropeptide by facilitating intra-cellular Aβ42 accumulation. These findings recommend anti-LRP/LR specific antibodies and shRNAs as potential therapeutic tools for AD treatment. PMID:24990253

A syntactic-semantic investigation of subjunctive and indicative "da"-complements in Serbian is conducted in this project. After a careful comparison of Serbian sentence constructions with "da"-complements to the equivalent sentence structures in languages of the Balkans as well as other Slavic languages, it is clearly…

The history of veterinary medicine is closely tied to the development of human medicine. Evidence of animal medicine has been found in ancient civilizations, such as those of the Hindu, Babylonians, Hebrews, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans. Ancient Indian literature in the form of the holy Vĕda, Purăna, Brăhmaņa, epics, etc. is flooded with information on animal care. The Purăņa are ancient scriptures discuss varied topics like devotion to God and his various aspects, traditional sciences like Ayurvĕda, Jyŏtişa (Astrology), cosmology, concepts like dharma, karma, reincarnation and many others. The treatment of animal diseases using Ayurvedic medicine has been mentioned in Garudapurăna, Agnipurăņa, Atri-samhită, Matsyapurăņa and many other texts. The Garudapurăņa is one of the important Săttvika purăna, the subject matter is divided into two parts, viz. Pŭrvakhaņda (first part) and an Uttarakhaņda (subsequent part). Gavăyurvĕda, Gajăyurvĕda narrated briefly and Aśvăyurvĕda described detailly in Pŭrvakhaņda. PMID:19580108

In 2001, the Bunche Academy was chosen by its district to join in partnership with the Da Vinci Learning Corporation to embark on an ambitious whole-school reform initiative, especially designed by the corporation for low-performing schools. In this chapter, the author describes how, as illustrated in the Bunche-Da Vinci Learning Academy context,…

We present updates to the DaVinci software toolkit that enable stand-alone reading of ISIS3 files, a link between DaVinci and JMARS, the ingestion and use of geospatial information, and a series of executable THEMIS processing scripts.

... 32 National Defense 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Power of Attorney (DA Form 4881-4-R) F Appendix F to Part 623 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT LOAN OF ARMY MATERIEL Pt. 623, App. F Appendix F to Part 623—Power of Attorney (DA Form...

An intrinsic 22 kDa polypeptide is associated with the O2-evolving Photosystem II core complex in a variety of green plants, although it does not appear to be required for O2 evolution. Digestion of thylakoid membranes and isolated Photosystem II preparations with trypsin, followed by immunoblotting using spinach anti-22 kDa antibodies, leads to two observations: (1) the domain between the 2nd and 3rd transmembrane helices of the 22 kDa protein is stromally exposed, and (2) only in a reaction center complex preparation, lacking the chlorophyll a/b-light harvesting complex II, is there extensive proteolytic cleavage of the 22 kDa protein. We also found that after, but not prior to, selective extraction of the 22 and 10 kDa proteins from Photosystem II membranes, the chlorophyll a/b-light harvesting complex II can be separated from the Photosystem II reaction center core by precipitation with MgCl2. This result suggests that the 22 kDa polypeptide is located between the Photosystem II reaction center polypeptides and light-harvesting complex II; it is possible that the protein serves as a link between the two protein complexes. The presence of the 22 kDa protein in several species was also examined by immunoblotting with polyclonal spinach anti-22 kDa antibodies. PMID:7803450

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"A Creative Approach to the Common Core Standards: The Da Vinci Curriculum" challenges educators to design programs that boldly embrace the Common Core State Standards by imaginatively drawing from the genius of great men and women such as Leonardo da Vinci. A central figure in the High Renaissance, Leonardo made extraordinary contributions as a…

Background/Aims Opioid induced bowel dysfunction (OIBD) is associated with decreased gastrointestinal (GI) propulsive activity due to intake of opioid analgesics. DA-9701, a novel prokinetic agent formulated with Pharbitis Semen and Corydalis Tuber has promising effects on GI motor function. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the prokinetic effects of DA-9701 in an OIBD model of guinea pig. Methods The ileal and distal colon muscle contraction in presence of different doses of DA-9701, morphine, and combination (morphine + DA-9701) was measured by tissue bath study. The prokinetic effect of DA-9701 was assessed by charcoal transit and fecal pellet output assay in an OIBD model of guinea pig. Results DA-9701 significantly increased the amplitude and area under the curve of ileal muscle contraction, while there was insignificant effect on the distal colon compared to the control. The maximal amplitude of ileal muscle contraction was acquired at a concentration of 10 μg/mL of DA-9701. In contrast, morphine significantly decreased the amplitude of ileal and distal colon muscle contraction compared to the control. Morphine delayed both upper (P < 0.01) and lower (P < 0.05) GI transit, and delayed GI transit was restored by the administration of DA-9701. Morphine induced reduction of contractility was significantly ameliorated by addition of DA-9701 in both ileal and distal colon muscles. Conclusions DA-9701 significantly increased the amplitude of contraction of the ileal muscle, however the distal colon muscle contraction was insignificant. Additionally, it restored delayed upper and lower GI transit in an OIBD model of guinea pig, and it might prove to be a useful candidate drug in a clinical trial for OIBD. PMID:26932898

DA-9701, a new prokinetic agent for the treatment of functional dyspepsia, is formulated with Pharbitis semen and Corydalis tuber. This study wasconducted to determine the pharmacological action of DA-9701 and to identify the receptors involved in DA-9701 -induced contractile responsesin the feline gastric corporal, fundic and antral circular smooth muscle. Concentration-response curve to DA-9701 was established. The tissue trips were exposed to methylsergide, ketanserin, ondansetron, GR 113808, atropine and dopamine before administration of DA-9701. The contractile force was determined before and after administration of drugs by a polygraph.DA-9701 enhanced the spontaneous contractile amplitude of antrum, corpus and fundus. However, it did not change the spontaneous contractile frequency of antrum and corpus, but concentration-dependently reduced that of fundus. In the fundus, DA-9701 -induced tonic contractions were inhibited by dopamine, methylsergide, ketanserine, ondansetron or GR 113808 respectively, but not by atropine, indicating that the contractile responses are mediated by multiple receptors: 5-HT2, 5-HT3, 5-HT4, and dopamine receptors. In the corpus, DA-9701-induced contractions were blocked by atropine, dopamine or GR 113808, but not by methysergide, ketanserin or ondansetron, indicating that they are involved in receptors on both, smooth muscles and neurons: 5-HT4 and dopamine receptors. However, contractile responses to DA-9701 are mainly mediated by dopamine receptors in the antrum. These results suggest that DA-9701 has important roles in gastric accommodation by enhancing tonic activity of fundus, and in gastric emptying and gastrointestinal transit by phasic contractions of corpus and antrum mediated by multiple receptors. PMID:25980179

We purified to apparent homogeneity a human urinary glycoprotein of 92 kDa (HGP.92) that, administered intravenously at 250 micrograms/kg, fully protected mice against a lethal inoculum of Listeria monocytogenes. Since HGP.92 protected scid mice, which lack B and T lymphocytes, this increased resistance to Listeria did not appear to be lymphocyte mediated. Furthermore, inflammatory macrophages incubated with 6 nM HGP.92 inhibited the growth of Lewis carcinoma cells in vitro. These two activities appeared to depend on an oligosaccharide moiety, as they were lost after N-Glycanase treatment of HGP.92. Thus, the biological activity of HGP.92 was in some way related to a glycan moiety. Images PMID:8078887

DART Bootstrap Services (dbs) is the first component of run-control for the DART Data Acquisition system -- the DA for the 96` round of experiments at Fermilab -- though it has potential usefulness as a powerful tool in other distributed applications. dbs is an rlogin session multiplexer. It allows a user, running a single program, to start up any number of remote login sessions, feed shell commands to them, and collect their output into a single (or multiple) log files (a server keeps the sessions open and collects their output). From this program, any session can be attached to interactively so it appears just like an rlogin session -- dbs becomes transparent. When finished with this interactive mode, the user can escape back to dbs and attach to a different session if so desired. Among many other useful features, dbs supplies a mechanism for cleanup (deletion) of all processes created under a session, allowing a fresh start.

An experiment on VLBI radar of the 2012 DA14 asteroid was carried out on February 15-16, 2011 at the time of its closest approach to the Earth. The research teams of Kharkov (Institute of Radio Astronomy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine), Evpatoria (National Space Facilities Control and Test Center), Nizhny Novgorod (Radiophysical Research Institute), Bologna (Istituto di Radioastronomia (INAF)), and Ventspils (Ventspils International Radioastronomy Center) took part in the experiment. The asteroid was irradiated by the RT-70 planetary radar (Evpatoria) at a frequency of 5 GHz. The reflected signal was received using two 32-m radio telescopes in Medicina (Italy) and Irbene (Latvia) in radiointerferometric mode. The Doppler frequency shifts in bi-static radar mode and interference frequency in VLBI mode were measured. Accuracy of the VLBI radar method for determining the radial and angular velocities of the asteroid were estimated.

We present a spectroscopically identified catalog of 70 DA white dwarfs (WDs) from the LAMOST pilot survey. Thirty-five are found to be new identifications after cross-correlation with the Eisenstein et al. and Villanova catalogs. The effective temperature and gravity of these WDs are estimated by Balmer lines fitting. Most of them are hot WDs. The cooling times and masses of these WDs are estimated by interpolation in theoretical evolution tracks. The peak of the mass distribution is found to be {approx}0.6 M {sub Sun }, which is consistent with prior work in the literature. The distances of these WDs are estimated using the method of synthetic spectral distances. All of these WDs are found to be in the Galactic disk from our analysis of space motions. Our sample supports the expectation that WDs with high mass are concentrated near the plane of the Galactic disk.

DART Bootstrap Services (dbs) is the first component of run-control for the DART Data Acquisition system - the DA for the 96{prime} round of experiments at Fermilab - though it has potential usefulness as a powerful tool in other distributed applications, dbs is an rlogin session multiplexer. It allows a user, running a single program, to start up any number of remote login sessions, feed shell commands to them, and collect their output into a single (or multiple) logfiles (a server keeps the sessions open and collects their output). From this program, any session can be attached to interactively so it appears just like an rlogin session - dbs becomes transparent. When finished with this interactive mode, the user can escape back to dbs and attach to a different session if so desired. Among many other useful features, dbs supplies a mechanism for cleanup (deletion) of all processes created under a session, allowing a fresh start.

Leonardo da Vinci's Manuscript D consists of five double pages sheets, which, folded in two, comprise ten folios. This document, in the old Tuscan dialect and mirror writing, reveals the ideas of Leonardo on the anatomy of the eye in relation to the formation of images and visual perception. Leonardo explains in particular the behavior of the rays in the eye in terms of refraction and reflection, and is very mechanistic in his conception of the eye and of the visual process. The most significant innovations found in these folios are the concept of the eye as a camera obscura and the intersection of light rays in the interior of the eye. His texts nevertheless show hesitation, doubts and a troubled confusion, reflecting the ideas and uncertainties of his era. He did not share his results in his lifetime, despite both printing and etching being readily available to him. PMID:19852385

Granulysin, a cationic protein expressed by human natural killer cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes, is a mediator for drug-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome and graft-versus-host disease. Some 15 kDa granulysin are processed into 9 kDa forms and sequestered in cytolytic granules, while others are constitutively secreted into body fluids. Both 9 and 15 kDa granulysin have been shown to be a serum marker for cell-mediated immunity. Furthermore, 15 kDa is able to activate monocyte differentiation. However, its antimicrobial properties have not been clearly addressed. Here, we report a novel method to prepare both the soluble 9 and 15 kDa granulysin and show that the 15 kDa form is more effective than the 9 kDa form in exerting specific antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa within a range of few micromolars. We also show that the 15 kDa granulysin is able to hyperpolarize the membrane potential and increase membrane permeability of treated bacteria. Interestingly, the bactericidal activity and membrane permeability of the granulysins were markedly reduced at lower pH (pH 5.4) as a result of probable increase in hydrophobicity of the granulysins. Additionally, we’ve also shown the granulysin to inhibit biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa. These results suggest that the 15 kDa granulysin exhibits a novel mechanism in bacteria killing in a way that’s different from most antimicrobial peptides. Our novel granulysin preparation methodology will be useful for further study of action mechanisms of other antimicrobial, cytotoxic and immunomodulating properties in granulysin-mediated diseases. PMID:27276051

Neospora caninum, a coccidian parasite closely related to Toxoplasma gondii, can infect a broad host range and is regarded as an important cause of bovine abortion worldwide. In the present study, four antigens of N. caninum were partially characterized using monoclonal antibodies. Immunofluorescence of viable tachyzoites as well as the immunoprecipitation of antigens extracted from tachyzoites previously labeled by surface biotinylation revealed that three of these antigens with apparent molecular weights of 40, 38, and 19 kDa are located in the outer surface membrane of this parasite stage. Further evidence for the surface localization of the 38-kDa antigen was obtained by immunoelectron microscopy. In addition to the surface molecules, an antigen located in dense granules and in the tubular network of the parasitophorous vacuole was detected by another monoclonal antibody. When tachyzoite antigens separated under nonreducing conditions were probed on Western blots, this antibody reacted mainly with a 33-kDa antigen. Immunohistochemical analysis of infected tissue sections indicated that the 33-kDa dense granule antigen is present in both tachyzoites and bradyzoites, while the 38-kDa surface antigen from tachyzoites seems to be absent in bradyzoites. PMID:10366536

The PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) system plays a key role in the ATLAS distributed computing infrastructure. PanDA is the ATLAS workload management system for processing all Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation and data reprocessing jobs in addition to user and group analysis jobs. The PanDA Dynamic Data Placement (PD2P) system has been developed to cope with difficulties of data placement for ATLAS. We will describe the design of the new system, its performance during the past year of data taking, dramatic improvements it has brought about in the efficient use of storage and processing resources, and plans for the future.

The stability of DA-1131 to renal dipeptidase (RDPase) (EC 3.4.13.19) was compared with that of imipenem and meropenem by V(max)/K(m) ratios as an index of the enzyme's preference for substrates. Our results showed a decreasing order of imipenem (6.24), meropenem (2.41), and DA-1131 (1.39). The biochemical evaluation of DA-1131 as the least preferred substrate of RDPase suggests its potential use as a novel beta-lactam antibiotic which may be usable without coadministration of RDPase inhibitors once its clinical suitability is proven. PMID:11796382

The dust-ion-acoustic (DIA) as well as the dust-acoustic (DA) solitary waves (SWs) in an adiabatic dusty plasma are investigated by the pseudo-potential approach which is valid for arbitrary amplitude SWs. The role of the adiabaticity of electrons and ions in modifying the basic features (polarity, speed, amplitude and width) of arbitrary amplitude DIA and DA SWs are explicitly examined. It is found that the effects of the adiabaticity of electrons and ions significantly modify the basic features (polarity, speed, amplitude and width) of the DIA and DA SWs. The implications of our results in space and laboratory dusty plasmas are briefly discussed.

A long anticipated near-miss by near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 2012 DA14 on 15 February 2013 was upstaged 16 hours earlier by the impact and atmospheric explosion of a ~20 m NEA over Chelyabinsk, Russia. DA14 was earlier estimated to be 45 m across and passage at a distance under geosynchronous satellites was considered to be a record close approach by an object of that size, a once-in-40-years event. Actual Earth impact by a 20 m NEA had been estimated to be a once-in-200-years event. A simplistic calculation gives a probability of these happening on the same day of 1-in-a-billion. Within hours of the Chelyabinsk impact, it was recognized and widely reported that the two asteroids were in very different orbits and could not, at least in any readily understandable way, be physically related to each other (e.g. fragments of the same precursor body). Also, some early reports suggested that the two asteroids had very different compositions, further undermining the possibility they were pieces of the same body. (It seems unlikely, though certainly conceivable, that the two NEAs could have different compositions yet have some kind of causal connection resulting in the same-day events.) Nevertheless, incredibly tiny probabilities beg for an explanation. Here, with the benefit of hindsight, I re-examine issues that affect the probabilities, such as size, albedo, probable composition, and numbers of NEAs of these sizes. I also consider difficult issues of framing the apparent coincidence, which dominate other uncertainties. Updated information about the physical nature of the two asteroids somewhat modifies the original estimates of probabilities. Moreover, more proper ways of framing elements of the coincidence considerably reduce the improbability of the same-day events, but not nearly to the level (e.g. 1-in-1000 or perhaps 1-in-10,000) where we could rationalize dismissing the events as “just a coincidence.” The events of 15 February 2013 deserve more sophisticated

The atmospheres of very cool, hydrogen-rich white dwarfs (WDs) (T{sub eff} < 6000 K) are challenging to model because of the increased complexity of the equation of state, chemical equilibrium, and opacity sources in a low-temperature, weakly ionized dense gas. In particular, many models that assume relatively simple models for the broadening of atomic levels and mostly ideal gas physics overestimate the flux in the blue part of their spectra. A solution to this problem that has met with some success is that additional opacity at short wavelengths comes for the extreme broadening of the Lyman α line of atomic H by collisions primarily with H{sub 2}. For the purpose of validating this model more rigorously, we acquired Hubble Space Telescope STIS spectra of eight very cool WDs (five DA and three DC stars). Combined with their known parallaxes, BVRIJHK, and Spitzer IRAC photometry, we analyze their entire spectral energy distribution (from 0.24 to 9.3 μm) with a large grid of model atmospheres and synthetic spectra. We find that the red wing of the Lyman α line reproduces the rapidly decreasing near-UV flux of these very cool stars very well. We determine better constrained values of T{sub eff} and gravity as well as upper limits to the helium abundance in their atmospheres.

Serra da Estrela is an elevated granite massif in central Portugal, characterized by extensive plateau surfaces incised by deep valleys affected by Quaternary glaciation, bounded by steep fault-generated escarpments. The presence of seven major textural variants of granite provides an opportunity to study the relationships between lithology and relief, whereas DEM analysis helped to show the relationships between lithology and topography objectively. The higher ground is associated with fine- to medium-grained granites and is typified by planar surfaces of low gradient, with occasional angular tors and rock pedestals. Block fields built by angular material are common in the parts that were not previously glaciated. Less elevated parts of the plateau are supported by medium- to coarse-grained granites and show more varied topography, with an abundance of tors, boulder piles, and depressions. Lithological boundaries locally coincide with slope breaks but this is not the rule. In the northern part of the massif a deep topographic basin has evolved in biotite granite, whereas deeply incised valleys follow major fault lines. Geological controls show a hierarchy, in that gross relief reflects the pattern of tectonic uplift and subsidence, whereas lithology and then fracture patterns become more and more important if one focuses on smaller and smaller landforms.

They had said that it couldn't be done-the worldwide eradication of smallpox. To hear D.A. Henderson tell it, the job of leading the World Health Organization's initiative to conquer the disease in the 1960s and 1970s rather fell into his lap. In fact, he describes each of the posts that he has held with great modesty, beginning with his military service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all the way through his assignments as Dean of Public Health at Johns Hopkins, Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President, and more recently as Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness under Secretary Thompson at the Department of Health and Human Services. Confronted with enormous challenges in terms of public health initiatives, Henderson describes each assignment as a matter of communicating with the people he works with and the people that he serves, and drawing on their insights to devise strategies for accomplishing the task at hand. With bioterrorism posing one of the major public health concerns to face the United States and the world, it's gratifying to know that someone with Henderson's track record and wide-ranging expertise is paying attention and making sure that medical and government officials are preparing to respond to the threat. Again and again, Henderson appears to have the knack for showing up in the right place at the right time with just the right idea. PMID:14993437

Purpose. The surgical expertise to perform robotic partial nephrectomy is heavily dependent on technology. The Da Vinci Xi (XI) is the latest robotic surgical platform with significant advancements compared to its predecessor. We describe our operative technique and experience with the XI system for robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN). Materials and Methods. Patients with clinical T1 renal masses were offered RPN with the XI. We used laser targeting, autopositioning, and a novel “in-line” port placement to perform RPN. Results. 15 patients underwent RPN with the XI. There were no intraoperative complications and no operative conversions. Mean console time was 101.3 minutes (range 44–176 minutes). Mean ischemia time was 17.5 minutes and estimated blood loss was 120 mLs. 12 of 15 patients had renal cell carcinoma. Two patients had oncocytoma and one had benign cystic disease. All patients had negative surgical margins and pathologic T1 disease. Two postoperative complications were encountered, including one patient who developed a pseudoaneurysm and one readmitted for presumed urinary tract infection. Conclusions. RPN with the XI system can be safely performed. Combining our surgical technique with the technological advancements on the XI offers patients acceptable pathologic and perioperative outcomes. PMID:26977144

In the paper we present a watermarking scheme developed to meet the specific requirements of audio annotation watermarking robust against DA/AD conversion (watermark detection after playback by loudspeaker and recording with a microphone). Additionally the described approach tries to achieve a comparably low detection complexity, so it could be embedded in the near future in low-end devices (e.g. mobile phones or other portable devices). We assume in the field of annotation watermarking that there is no specific motivation for attackers to the developed scheme. The basic idea for the watermark generation and embedding scheme is to combine traditional frequency domain spread spectrum watermarking with psychoacoustic modeling to guarantee transparency and alphabet substitution to improve the robustness. The synchronization and extraction scheme is designed to be much less computational complex than the embedder. The performance of the scheme is evaluated in the aspects of transparency, robustness, complexity and capacity. The tests reveals that 44% out of 375 tested audio files pass the simulation test for robustness, while the most appropriate category shows even 100% robustness. Additionally the introduced prototype shows an averge transparency of -1.69 in SDG, while at the same time having a capacity satisfactory to the chosen application scenario.

A total of {approx}640, 000 objects from the LAMOST pilot survey have been publicly released. In this work, we present a catalog of DA white dwarfs (DAWDs) from the entire pilot survey. We outline a new algorithm for the selection of white dwarfs (WDs) by fitting Sersic profiles to the Balmer H{beta}, H{gamma}, and H{delta} lines of the spectra, and calculating the equivalent width of the Ca II K line. Two thousand nine hundred sixty-four candidates are selected by constraining the fitting parameters and the equivalent width of the Ca II K line. All the spectra of candidates are visually inspected. We identify 230 DAWDs (59 of which are already included in the Villanova and SDSS WD catalogs), 20 of which are DAWDs with non-degenerate companions. In addition, 128 candidates are classified as DAWDs/subdwarfs, which means the classifications are ambiguous. The result is consistent with the expected DAWD number estimated based on the LEGUE target selection algorithm.

Several adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) encoded early proteins have been identified in viral infected human KB cells. These proteins are of great interest as they play key roles in cell transformation, viral DNA synthesis and gene expression. They have partially purified an AD2 encoded early polypeptide of an apparent molecular weight of 11 kilodaltons from the nuclei of viral infected cells labelled with /sup 35/S-methionine. After DNA removal from the nuclear extracts, the polypeptide was isolated using DEAE-Sephacel anion exchange and Biogel P-10 gel filtration columns. This simple two step procedure yielded several fold purification of the polypeptide. Antisera raised in mice against an Ad2 transformed rat cell line 8617 was found to immunoprecipitate the 11 kDa polypeptide from the nuclear extract of Ad2 infected KB cells. After relating this protein to an open reading frame of an Ad2 early gene block by matching the amino acid sequences to the nucleotide sequences of early genes, they plan to functionally characterize this protein by using monoclonal antibodies in in vivo and in vitro experiments.

Analysis of four sediment core collected in Lagoa da Pata lake show significant changes in the environmental history of Amazonia during the last 40,000 years. The Lagoa da Pata Lake (0°17'S, 66°40'W) is located on the top of the Morro dos Seis Lagos, an isolated hill in the extensive forested plane surface of high Rio Negro basin. The climate in the region presents mean annual precipitation around 3000 mm without dry season. Three distinct sections are clearly identified in the LPT III, LPT IV and LPT V cores. They consist of upper and lower organic-rich layers, separated by a clastic layer which represents a short period of rapid accumulation around 18 ka BP. Analysis of the organic matter composition by d13C and d15N, total Carbon and Nitrogen, sedimentary chlorophyll concentration and organic matter petrography show three different phases related to organic matter deposition. Between, at least 46,000 and 31,000 14C yr B.P., the lake presented a high water level attested by high accumulation rates of organic carbon. Values of d13C (around -32%) associated to high C/N ratio demonstrate a lignocellulosic material contribution in this phase; the second phase between the 31000 yr 14C B.P. and 18000 14C B.P. is characterised by a lower productivity attested by low sedimentary chlorophyll and total organic carbon values. The d13C values increase with medium values around -28% that may correspond to an input of organic matter rich in C4 plants (grasses). The sedimentation rate decreases significantly. High charcoal fluxes were observed in this period. At around 18000 14C yr BP, there appears to have been a sudden input of clastic material. This is represented by a sandy facies, which exhibits lower carbon contents. From 18000 14C yr B.P. to the present time occurred an increase in lacustrine productivity marked by an increase in carbon and chlorophyll derivate accumulation rates. The C/N values dropped indicting an algae organic matter contribution. It probably

EUV spectroscopy has shown that DA white dwarfs hotter than about 45,000 K may contain trace heavy elements, while those hotter than about 50,000 K almost always have significant abundances of trace heavy elements. One of our continuing challenges is to identify and determine the abundances of these trace constituents, and then to relate the observed abundance patterns to the present conditions and previous evolutionary histories of the hot DA white dwarfs.

The 32 kDa hydrophilic and acidic enamelin, the most stable cleavage fragment of the enamel specific glycoprotein, is believed to play vital roles in controlling crystal nucleation or growth during enamel biomineralization. Circular dichroism and Fourier transform infrared spectra demonstrate that the secondary structure of the 32 kDa enamelin has a high content of α-helix (81.5%). Quantitative analysis on the circular dichroism data revealed that the 32 kDa enamelin undergoes conformational changes with a structural preference to β-sheet as a function of calcium ions. We suggest that the increase of β-sheet conformation upon presence of Ca2+ may allow preferable interaction of the 32 kDa enamelin with apatite crystal surfaces during enamel biomineralization. The calcium association constant of the 32 kDa enamelin calculated from the fitting curve of ellipticity at 222 nm is Ka = 1.55 (±0.13) × 103 M−1, indicating a relatively low affinity. Our current biophysical studies on the 32 kDa enamelin structure provide novel insights towards understanding the enamelin-mineral interaction and subsequently the functions of enamelin during enamel formation. PMID:18508280

Data Assimilation techniques are essential elements in state-of-the-art development of models and their use in operational forecasting and real-time control in the fields of groundwater, surface water and soil systems. In meteorological and atmospheric sciences, steady improvements in numerical weather forecasting and climate prediction over the last couple of decades have been enabled to a large degree by the development of community-based models and data assimilation systems. The hydrologic community should learn from the experiences of the meteorological and atmospheric communities by accelerating the transition of hydrologic DA research into operations and developing community-supported, open-source modeling and forecasting systems and data assimilation tools. In 2010, a community based open source initiative named OpenDA was started. The openDA initiative bears similarities with the well-known openMI initiative. OpenDA makes use of a set of interfaces that describe the interaction between models, observations and data assimilation algorithms. It focuses on flexible applications in portable systems for modeling geophysical processes. It provides a generic interfacing protocol that allows combination of the implemented data assimilation techniques with, in principle, any time-stepping model describing a process (atmospheric processes, 3D circulation, 2D water flow, rainfall-runoff, unsaturated flow, groundwater flow, etc.). Presently, openDA features filtering techniques and calibration techniques. The presentation will give an overview of openDA and the results of some of its practical applications.

The 32kDa thylakoid membrane protein is an integral component of the PS II reaction centre. The protein, although stable in the dark, undergoes light dependent turnover. Light from the UV, visible and far-red spectral regions induce 32kDa protein degradation. To better understand 32kDa protein metabolism, an in vitro degradation system is being developed. It consists of isolated thylakoid membranes than contain radiolabelled protein. The 32kDa protein is actively and specifically degraded when the thylakoid preparation is exposed to UV or visible radiation. The protein is stable in the dark. The herbicides (atrazine and DCMU) inhibit degradation in the in vitro system as they do in vivo. Additionally, several methods of isolating thylakoids are being compared to optimize the 32kDa protein degradation reaction. The preparations will be evaluated based on their ability to permit light dependent degradation of the 32kDa protein without affecting the other membrane components.

After surgical reposition of displaced organs (abomasum, uterus, intestines) restoration of blood flow and oxygen supply generates oxygen radicals and other reactive oxygen species. SOD indicates radical stress of the organism. Subject of the study was the question if SOD can be detected in blood serum samples of cows and if there are differences in SOD activity between healthy cows and cows with Dislocatio abomasi (DA). We also wanted to investigate the influence of breed "Schwarzbunte" with DA (16 left/5 rights). The samples were drawn before and 1, 3 and 24 post op. Ten healthy cows of the same breed were also examined (2 weeks and 4-6 weeks after calving). There are no significant differences between the SOD activity of healthy cows and cows with DA, but the SOD activity of cows with left DA is significant lower than the activity of cows with right DA. Post op. SOD activity decreases; 24 h after surgery cows with left but not with right DA show an increase of SOD activity similar to values before surgery. There is a close positive correlation between SOD activity and protein concentration as well as negative correlation to concentration of free fatty acids after surgery. The behaviour of SOD activity shows that the surgical replacement of the displaced abomasum can generate a depression of the antioxidative capacity of the organism. PMID:14983749

Teaching cultural competency in the language classroom can be a challenge. This study explores the effectiveness of task-based instruction (Lee, 2000) on the learning of culture by students in college-level Spanish language courses. Students were required to record oral presentations, write essays, and make comparisons between the culture and…

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in the state of Rio de Janeiro is sporadic and can be characterised as a peridomestic transmission that occurs in modified natural environments. The aim of this work was to study the fauna and ecological characteristics of sandflies in an environmentally protected area (the State Park of Serra da Tiririca) within the remnants of the Atlantic Forest in the municipalities of Niterói and Maricá and their possible relationship with leishmaniasis. Captures were performed using light traps during the night once a month for one year in both sylvatic environments and areas surrounding homes near the park. A total of 1,037 sandflies were captured, belonging to nine genera and 12 species: Evandromyia tupynambai (34.1%), Migonemyia migonei (20.6%), Brumptomyia cunhai (13.8%), Micropygomyia schreiberi (9.7%), Psathyromyia lanei (6.5%), Brumptomyia nitzulescui (5.7%), Evandromyia edwardsi (5.4%), Nyssomyia intermedia (2.8%), Evandromyia cortelezzii (0.6%), Pintomyia bianchigalatiae (0.5%), Lutzomyia longipalpis (0.2%) and Sciopemyia microps (0.1%). Both Mg. migonei and Ny. intermedia may be acting as vectors of CL in this area. PMID:24141956

Although monocytic cells can provide a reservoir for viral production in vivo, their regulation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transcription can be either latent, restricted, or productive. These differences in gene expression have not been molecularly defined. In THP-1 cells with restricted HIV expression, there is an absence of DNA-protein binding complex formation with the HIV-1 promoter-enhancer associated with markedly less viral RNA production. This absence of binding was localized to the NF-kappa B region of the HIV-1 enhancer; the 65-kDa plus 50-kDa NF-kappa B heterodimer was preferentially lost. Adding purified NF-kappa B protein to nuclear extracts from cells with restricted expression overcomes this lack of binding. In addition, treatment of these nuclear extracts with sodium deoxycholate restored their ability to form the heterodimer, suggesting the presence of an inhibitor of NF-kappa B activity. Furthermore, treatment of nuclear extracts from these cells that had restricted expression with lipopolysaccharide increased viral production and NF-kappa B activity. Antiserum specific for NF-kappa B binding proteins, but not c-rel-specific antiserum, disrupted heterodimer complex formation. Thus, both NF-kappa B-binding complexes are needed for optimal viral transcription. Binding of the 65-kDa plus 50-kDa heterodimer to the HIV-1 enhancer can be negatively regulated in monocytes, providing one mechanism restricting HIV-1 gene expression. PMID:1946356

The classic myelin basic protein (MBP) splice isoforms range in nominal molecular mass from 14 to 21.5 kDa, and arise from the gene in the oligodendrocyte lineage (Golli) in maturing oligodendrocytes. The 18.5-kDa isoform that predominates in adult myelin adheres the cytosolic surfaces of oligodendrocyte membranes together, and forms a two-dimensional molecular sieve restricting protein diffusion into compact myelin. However, this protein has additional roles including cytoskeletal assembly and membrane extension, binding to SH3-domains, participation in Fyn-mediated signaling pathways, sequestration of phosphoinositides, and maintenance of calcium homeostasis. Of the diverse post-translational modifications of this isoform, phosphorylation is the most dynamic, and modulates 18.5-kDa MBP’s protein-membrane and protein-protein interactions, indicative of a rich repertoire of functions. In developing and mature myelin, phosphorylation can result in microdomain or even nuclear targeting of the protein, supporting the conclusion that 18.5-kDa MBP has significant roles beyond membrane adhesion. The full-length, early-developmental 21.5-kDa splice isoform is predominantly karyophilic due to a non-traditional P-Y nuclear localization signal, with effects such as promotion of oligodendrocyte proliferation. We discuss in vitro and recent in vivo evidence for multifunctionality of these classic basic proteins of myelin, and argue for a systematic evaluation of the temporal and spatial distributions of these protein isoforms, and their modified variants, during oligodendrocyte differentiation. PMID:23398367

Alkylhydroperoxide reductase (AhpC, the 26 kDa antigen) is one of the abundant antioxidant enzymes in Helicobacter pylori and seems to have a good potential for use in development of immunoassays to detect H. pylori infection in clinical specimens. This study aimed to investigate some properties of this antigen by the produced monoclonal antibodies. Five established hybridoma cell lines secreting monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against 26 kDa antigen of H. pylori were cultivated and MAbs were purified by affinity chromatography. Subsequently, MAbs were conjugated with biotin, and different combinations of capture and tracer antibodies used in sandwich ELISA. Immunoblotting of bacterial extracts were performed to estimate aggregation status of the antigen. Release of antigen from the cultivated bacteria on solid media was examined by sandwich ELISA, and also, existence of interference in fecal extract was investigated by immunoblotting and sandwich ELISA. Our findings showed that the MAbs against 26 kDa antigen of H. pylori could recognize three bands of nearly 25 kDa, 50 kDa, and 75 kDa in immunoblotting. This study also indicated presence of more antigens in the culture medium around the bacteria than the bacterial extract itself. The results of sandwich ELISA and immunoblotting on fecal extracts suggest the presence of interfering agents that prevent detection of antigen by antibody in ELISA but not in immunoblotting. In this study the oligomerization of the 26 kDa antigen, presence of interfering agents in stool matrix, and release of antigen to outside of bacteria, were demonstrated. PMID:25530147

The morphine withdrawal syndrome is strictly related to modifications on neurotransmittorial systems at central and peripheral levels. Dopamine seems to play an important role. Particularly in the experimental withdrawal syndrome the jumping activity seems to be related to a hypersensitivity of DA receptors. While the role of DA1 receptors has been extensively studied, using agonist and antagonist drugs, the role of DA2 receptors is still little known. In our study we evaluated the changes of the jumping response that was induced by substances active on DA2 receptors (lisuride, tiapride) in mice made acutely dependent on morphine, in which we induced a withdrawal syndrome with naloxone. Haloperidol (DA1-DA2 blocker) did not provoke significant changes. Either tiapride or lisuride determined a sharp increase of jumping. PMID:6712813

The M-transcript of human choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) produces an 82-kDa protein (82-kDa ChAT) that concentrates in nuclei of cholinergic neurons. We assessed the effects of acute exposure to oligomeric amyloid-β1-42 (Aβ1-42) on 82-kDa ChAT disposition in SH-SY5Y neural cells, finding that acute exposure to Aβ1-42 results in increased association of 82-kDa ChAT with chromatin and formation of 82-kDa ChAT aggregates in nuclei. When measured by chromatin immunoprecipitation with next-generation sequencing (ChIP-seq), we identified that Aβ1-42-exposure increases 82-kDa ChAT association with gene promoters and introns. The Aβ1-42-induced 82-kDa ChAT aggregates co-localize with special AT-rich binding protein 1 (SATB1), which anchors DNA to scaffolding/matrix attachment regions (S/MARs). SATB1 had a similar genomic association as 82-kDa ChAT, with both proteins associating with synapse and cell stress genes. After Aβ1-42 -exposure, both SATB1 and 82-kDa ChAT are enriched at the same S/MAR on the APP gene, with 82-kDa ChAT expression attenuating an increase in an isoform-specific APP mRNA transcript. Finally, 82-kDa ChAT and SATB1 have patterned genomic association at regions enriched with S/MAR binding motifs. These results demonstrate that 82-kDa ChAT and SATB1 play critical roles in the response of neural cells to acute Aβ-exposure. PMID:27052102

The DA-T Gibbs sampler is proposed by Maris and Maris (2002) as a Bayesian estimation method for a wide variety of "Item Response Theory (IRT) models". The present paper provides an expository account of the DA-T Gibbs sampler for the 2PL model. However, the scope is not limited to the 2PL model. It is demonstrated how the DA-T Gibbs sampler for…

The M-transcript of human choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) produces an 82-kDa protein (82-kDa ChAT) that concentrates in nuclei of cholinergic neurons. We assessed the effects of acute exposure to oligomeric amyloid-β1–42 (Aβ1–42) on 82-kDa ChAT disposition in SH-SY5Y neural cells, finding that acute exposure to Aβ1–42 results in increased association of 82-kDa ChAT with chromatin and formation of 82-kDa ChAT aggregates in nuclei. When measured by chromatin immunoprecipitation with next-generation sequencing (ChIP-seq), we identified that Aβ1–42 -exposure increases 82-kDa ChAT association with gene promoters and introns. The Aβ1–42 -induced 82-kDa ChAT aggregates co-localize with special AT-rich binding protein 1 (SATB1), which anchors DNA to scaffolding/matrix attachment regions (S/MARs). SATB1 had a similar genomic association as 82-kDa ChAT, with both proteins associating with synapse and cell stress genes. After Aβ1–42 -exposure, both SATB1 and 82-kDa ChAT are enriched at the same S/MAR on the APP gene, with 82-kDa ChAT expression attenuating an increase in an isoform-specific APP mRNA transcript. Finally, 82-kDa ChAT and SATB1 have patterned genomic association at regions enriched with S/MAR binding motifs. These results demonstrate that 82-kDa ChAT and SATB1 play critical roles in the response of neural cells to acute Aβ -exposure. PMID:27052102

Background The Drosophila melanogaster Serpin 42 Da gene (previously Serpin 4) encodes a serine protease inhibitor that is capable of remarkable functional diversity through the alternative splicing of four different reactive centre loop exons. Eight protein isoforms of Serpin 42 Da have been identified to date, targeting the protease inhibitor to both different proteases and cellular locations. Biochemical and genetic studies suggest that Serpin 42 Da inhibits target proteases through the classical serpin ‘suicide’ inhibition mechanism, however the crystal structure of a representative Serpin 42 Da isoform remains to be determined. Results We report two high-resolution crystal structures of Serpin 42 Da representing the A/B isoforms in the cleaved conformation, belonging to two different space-groups and diffracting to 1.7 Å and 1.8 Å. Structural analysis reveals the archetypal serpin fold, with the major elements of secondary structure displaying significant homology to the vertebrate serpin, neuroserpin. Key residues known to have central roles in the serpin inhibitory mechanism are conserved in both the hinge and shutter regions of Serpin 42 Da. Furthermore, these structures identify important conserved interactions that appear to be of crucial importance in allowing the Serpin 42 Da fold to act as a versatile template for multiple reactive centre loops that have different sequences and protease specificities. Conclusions In combination with previous biochemical and genetic studies, these structures confirm for the first time that the Serpin 42 Da isoforms are typical inhibitory serpin family members with the conserved serpin fold and inhibitory mechanism. Additionally, these data reveal the remarkable structural plasticity of serpins, whereby the basic fold is harnessed as a template for inhibition of a large spectrum of proteases by reactive centre loop exon ‘switching’. This is the first structure of a Drosophila serpin reported to date

We have characterized the biochemical properties of the testis and brain-specific 105-kDa protein which is cross-reacted with an anti-bovine HSP90 antibody. The protein was induced in germ cells by heat stress, resulting in a protein which is one of the heat shock proteins [Kumagai, J., Fukuda, J., Kodama, H., Murata, M., Kawamura, K., Itoh, H. & Tanaka, T. (2000) Eur. J. Biochem.267, 3073-3078]. In the present study, we characterized the biochemical properties of the protein. The 105-kDa protein inhibited the aggregation of citrate synthase as a molecular chaperone in vitro. ATP/MgCl2 has a slight influence of the suppression of the citrate synthase aggregation by the 105-kDa protein. The protein possessed chaperone activity. The protein was able to bind to ATP-Sepharose like the other molecular chaperone HSP70. A partial amino-acid sequence (24 amino-acid residues) of the protein was determined and coincided with those of the mouse testis- and brain-specific APG-1 and osmotic stress protein 94 (OSP94). The 105-kDa protein was detected only in the medulla of the rat kidney sections similar to OSP94 upon immunoblotting. The purified 105-kDa protein was cross-reacted with an antibody against APG-1. These results suggested that APG-1 and OSP94 are both identical to the 105-kDa protein. There were highly homologous regions between the 105-kDa protein/APG-1/OSP94 and HSP90. The region of HSP90 was also an immunoreactive site. An anti-bovine HSP90 antibody may cross-react with the 105-kDa protein similar to HSP90 in the rat testis and brain. We have investigated the localization and developmental induction of the protein in the rat brain. In the immunohistochemical analysis, the protein was mainly detected in the cytoplasm of the nerve and glial cells of the rat brain. Although the 105-kDa protein was localized in all rat brain segments, the expression pattern was fast in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus and slow in the cerebellum. PMID:12423363

Despite the critical role of the presynaptic dopamine (DA) transporter (DAT, SLC6A3) in DA clearance and psychostimulant responses, evidence that DAT dysfunction supports risk for mental illness is indirect. Recently, we identified a rare, nonsynonymous Slc6a3 variant that produces the DAT substitution Ala559Val in two male siblings who share a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with other studies identifying the variant in subjects with bipolar disorder (BPD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previously, using transfected cell studies, we observed that although DAT Val559 displays normal total and surface DAT protein levels, and normal DA recognition and uptake, the variant transporter exhibits anomalous DA efflux (ADE) and lacks capacity for amphetamine (AMPH)-stimulated DA release. To pursue the significance of these findings in vivo, we engineered DAT Val559 knock-in mice, and here we demonstrate in this model the presence of elevated extracellular DA levels, altered somatodendritic and presynaptic D2 DA receptor (D2R) function, a blunted ability of DA terminals to support depolarization and AMPH-evoked DA release, and disruptions in basal and psychostimulant-evoked locomotor behavior. Together, our studies demonstrate an in vivo functional impact of the DAT Val559 variant, providing support for the ability of DAT dysfunction to impact risk for mental illness. PMID:25331903

Despite the critical role of the presynaptic dopamine (DA) transporter (DAT, SLC6A3) in DA clearance and psychostimulant responses, evidence that DAT dysfunction supports risk for mental illness is indirect. Recently, we identified a rare, nonsynonymous Slc6a3 variant that produces the DAT substitution Ala559Val in two male siblings who share a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with other studies identifying the variant in subjects with bipolar disorder (BPD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previously, using transfected cell studies, we observed that although DAT Val559 displays normal total and surface DAT protein levels, and normal DA recognition and uptake, the variant transporter exhibits anomalous DA efflux (ADE) and lacks capacity for amphetamine (AMPH)-stimulated DA release. To pursue the significance of these findings in vivo, we engineered DAT Val559 knock-in mice, and here we demonstrate in this model the presence of elevated extracellular DA levels, altered somatodendritic and presynaptic D2 DA receptor (D2R) function, a blunted ability of DA terminals to support depolarization and AMPH-evoked DA release, and disruptions in basal and psychostimulant-evoked locomotor behavior. Together, our studies demonstrate an in vivo functional impact of the DAT Val559 variant, providing support for the ability of DAT dysfunction to impact risk for mental illness. PMID:25331903

Enamel extracelluar matrix components play vital roles in controlling crystal nucleation and growth during enamel formation. We investigated the interaction between the 32 kDa enamelin fragment and amelogenin using immunochemical and biophysical methods. Immunoprecipitation studies revealed that the 32 kDa enamelin and amelogenin eluted together from a Protein A column. Dynamic light scattering results showed that the 32 kDa enamelin had a profound effect on amelogenin assembly at pH 8.0, causing partial dissociation of the nanospheres, in a dose-dependent manner. The appearance of an isodichroic point and the shifting and intensity decrease of the ellipticity minima in the circular dichroism spectra of amelogenin following the addition of the 32 kDa enamelin were indicative of conformational changes in amelogenin and of a direct interaction between the two macromolecules. Our results collectively demonstrate that the 32 kDa enamelin has a direct interaction with amelogenin in vitro. Our current studies provide novel insights into understanding possible cooperation between enamelin and amelogenin in macromolecular self-assembly and in controlling enamel mineral formation. PMID:19263522

In the Drosophila olfactory system, odorant information is sensed by olfactory sensory neurons and relayed from the primary olfactory center, the antennal lobe (AL), to higher olfactory centers via olfactory projection neurons (PNs). A major portion of the AL is constituted with dendrites of four groups of PNs, anterodorsal PNs (adPNs), lateral PNs (lPNs), lateroventral PNs (lvPNs) and ventral PNs (vPNs). Previous studies have been focused on the development and function of adPNs and lPNs, while the investigation on those of lvPNs and vPNs received less attention. Here, we study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the morphogenesis of a putative male-pheromone responding vPN, the DA1 vPN. Using an intersection strategy to remove background neurons labeled within a DA1 vPN-containing GAL4 line, we depicted morphological changes of the DA1 vPN that occurs at the pupal stage. We then conducted a pilot screen using RNA interference knock-down approach to identify cell surface molecules, including Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule 1 and Semaphorin-1a, that might play essential roles for the DA1 vPN morphogenesis. Taken together, by revealing molecular and cellular basis of the DA1 vPN morphogenesis, we should provide insights into future comprehension of how vPNs are assembled into the olfactory neural circuitry. PMID:27163287

In the Drosophila olfactory system, odorant information is sensed by olfactory sensory neurons and relayed from the primary olfactory center, the antennal lobe (AL), to higher olfactory centers via olfactory projection neurons (PNs). A major portion of the AL is constituted with dendrites of four groups of PNs, anterodorsal PNs (adPNs), lateral PNs (lPNs), lateroventral PNs (lvPNs) and ventral PNs (vPNs). Previous studies have been focused on the development and function of adPNs and lPNs, while the investigation on those of lvPNs and vPNs received less attention. Here, we study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the morphogenesis of a putative male-pheromone responding vPN, the DA1 vPN. Using an intersection strategy to remove background neurons labeled within a DA1 vPN-containing GAL4 line, we depicted morphological changes of the DA1 vPN that occurs at the pupal stage. We then conducted a pilot screen using RNA interference knock-down approach to identify cell surface molecules, including Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule 1 and Semaphorin-1a, that might play essential roles for the DA1 vPN morphogenesis. Taken together, by revealing molecular and cellular basis of the DA1 vPN morphogenesis, we should provide insights into future comprehension of how vPNs are assembled into the olfactory neural circuitry. PMID:27163287

Two aircraft turbine disk alloys, GATORIZED AF2-DA and INCO 718 were evaluated for their low strain long life creep-fatigue behavior. Static (tensile and creep rupture) and cyclic properties of both alloys were characterized. The cntrolled strain LCF tests were conducted at 760 C (1400 F) and 649 C (1200 F) for AF2-1DA and INCO 718, respectively. Hold times were varied for tensile, compressive and tensile/compressive strain dwell (relaxation) tests. Stress (creep) hold behavior of AF2-1DA was also evaluated. Generally, INCO 718 exhibited more pronounced reduction in cyclic life due to hold than AF2-1DA. The percent reduction in life for both alloys for strain dwell tests was greater at low strain ranges (longer life regime). Changing hold time from 0 to 0.5, 2.0 and 15.0 min. resulted in corresponding reductions in life. The continuous cycle and cyclic/dwell initiation failure mechanism was predominantly transgranular for AF2-1DA and intergranular for INCO 718.

After a scheduled maintenance and upgrade period, the world's largest and most powerful machine - the Large Hadron Collider(LHC) - is about to enter its second run at unprecedented energies. In order to exploit the scientific potential of the machine, the experiments at the LHC face computational challenges with enormous data volumes that need to be analysed by thousand of physics users and compared to simulated data. Given diverse funding constraints, the computational resources for the LHC have been deployed in a worldwide mesh of data centres, connected to each other through Grid technologies. The PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) system was developed in 2005 for the ATLAS experiment on top of this heterogeneous infrastructure to seamlessly integrate the computational resources and give the users the feeling of a unique system. Since its origins, PanDA has evolved together with upcoming computing paradigms in and outside HEP, such as changes in the networking model, Cloud Computing and HPC. It is currently running steadily up to 200 thousand simultaneous cores (limited by the available resources for ATLAS), up to two million aggregated jobs per day and processes over an exabyte of data per year. The success of PanDA in ATLAS is triggering the widespread adoption and testing by other experiments. In this contribution we will give an overview of the PanDA components and focus on the new features and upcoming challenges that are relevant to the next decade of distributed computing workload management using PanDA.

Trichomonas vaginalis is a flagellate protozoan parasite and commonly infected the lower genital tract in women and men. Iron is a known nutrient for growth of various pathogens, and also reported to be involved in establishment of trichomoniasis. However, the exact mechanism was not clarified. In this study, the author investigated whether the 120 kDa protein of T. vaginalis may be involved in pathogenicity of trichomonads. Antibodies against 120 kDa protein of T. vaginalis, which was identified as pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR) by peptide analysis of MALDI-TOF-MS, were prepared in rabbits. Pretreatment of T. vaginalis with anti-120 kDa Ab decreased the proliferation and adherence to vaginal epithelial cells (MS74) of T. vaginalis. Subcutaneous tissue abscess in anti-120 kDa Ab-treated T. vaginalis-injected mice was smaller in size than that of untreated T. vaginalis-infected mice. Collectively, the 120 kDa protein expressed by iron may be involved in proliferation, adhesion to host cells, and abscess formation, thereby may influence on the pathogenicity of T. vaginalis. PMID:26951982

The PanDA distributed production and analysis system has been in production use for ATLAS data processing and analysis since late 2005 in the US, and globally throughout ATLAS since early 2008. Its core architecture is based on a set of stateless web services served by Apache and backed by a suite of MySQL databases that are the repository for all PanDA information: active and archival job queues, dataset and file catalogs, site configuration information, monitoring information, system control parameters, and so on. This database system is one of the most critical components of PanDA, and has successfully delivered the functional and scaling performance required by PanDA, currently operating at a scale of half a million jobs per week, with much growth still to come. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of the PanDA database system, its architecture of MySQL servers deployed at BNL and CERN, backup strategy and monitoring tools. The system has been developed, thoroughly tested, and brought to production to provide highly reliable, scalable, flexible and available database services for ATLAS Monte Carlo production, reconstruction and physics analysis.

Previous studies showed a synergistic effect of melatonin and deprenyl against dopamine (DA) autoxidation in vitro. Since oxidative stress is implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD), we explored the effects of melatonin plus deprenyl administration in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced PD in C57/Bl6 mice. Melatonin, but not deprenyl prevents the inhibition of mitochondrial complex I and the oxidative damage in nigrostriatal neurons induced by MPTP. With the dose used deprenyl recovers 50% DA levels and tyrosine hydroxylase activity depressed by the neurotoxin, normalizing locomotor activity of mice. Melatonin, which was unable to counteract MPTP-induced DA depletion and inhibition of tyrosine hydroxylase activity, potentiates the effect of deprenyl on catecholamine turnover and mice ambulatory activity. These results suggest a dissociation of complex I inhibition from DA depletion in this model of Parkinson's disease. The data also support that a combination of melatonin, which improves mitochondrial electron transport chain and reduces oxidative damage, and deprenyl, which promotes the specific function of the rescued neurons, i.e. DA turnover, may be a promising strategy for the treatment of PD. PMID:12600724

Two aircraft turbine disk alloys, GATORIZED AF2-DA and INCO 718 were evaluated for their low strain long life creep-fatigue behavior. Static (tensile and creep rupture) and cyclic properties of both alloys were characterized. The cntrolled strain LCF tests were conducted at 760 C (1400 F) and 649 C (1200 F) for AF2-1DA and INCO 718, respectively. Hold times were varied for tensile, compressive and tensile/compressive strain dwell (relaxation) tests. Stress (creep) hold behavior of AF2-1DA was also evaluated. Generally, INCO 718 exhibited more pronounced reduction in cyclic life due to hold than AF2-1DA. The percent reduction in life for both alloys for strain dwell tests was greater at low strain ranges (longer life regime). Changing hold time from 0 to 0.5, 2.0 and 15.0 min. resulted in corresponding reductions in life. The continuous cycle and cyclic/dwell initiation failure mechanism was predominantly transgranular for AF2-1DA and intergranular for INCO 718.

The cellulase complex from Clostridium cellulovorans has been purified and its subunit composition determined. The complex exhibits cellulase activity against crystalline cellulose as well as carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) and cellobiohydrolase activities. Three major subunits are present with molecular masses of 170, 100, and 70 kDa. The 100-kDa subunit is the major CMCase, although at least four other, minor subunits show CMCase activity. The 170-kDa subunit has the highest affinity for cellulose, does not have detectable enzymatic activity, but is necessary for cellulase activity. Immunological studies indicate that the 170-kDa subunit is not required for binding of the catalytic subunits to cellulose and therefore does not function solely as an anchor protein. Thus this core subunit must have multiple functions. The authors propose a working hypothesis that the binding of the 170-kDa subunit converts the crystalline cellulose to a form that is capable of being hydrolyzed in a cooperative fashion by the associated catalytic subunits.

The detection of the He I 4471 A feature in the moderately hot DA white dwarf G104 - 27 places this star within the rather sparse class of DAB white dwarfs. It does not appear possible, on the basis of the present data, to distinguish between a stratified and a homogeneously mixed atmosphere. While a stratified structure would be natural for a DA white dwarf, G104 - 27 resides near the red edge of the DB gap, in a region where DA stars could transform into DB stars through convective mixing in the underlying He envelope and thereby destroy envelope stratification. Both atmospheres are consistent with the existing soft X-ray flux limit for this star.

Fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and Partial least squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS DA) were used for characterization and classification of honey. Excitation emission spectra were obtained for 95 honey samples of different botanical origin (acacia, sunflower, linden, meadow, and fake honey) by recording emission from 270 to 640 nm with excitation in the range of 240-500 nm. The number of fluorophores present in honey, excitation and emission spectra of each fluorophore, and their relative concentration are determined using a six-component PARAFAC model. Emissions from phenolic compounds and Maillard reaction products exhibited the largest difference among classes of honey of different botanical origin. The PLS DA classification model, constructed from PARAFAC model scores, detected fake honey samples with 100% sensitivity and specificity. Honey samples were also classified using PLS DA with errors of 0.5% for linden, 10% for acacia, and about 20% for both sunflower and meadow mix. PMID:25577082

ATLAS user jobs are executed on Worker Nodes (WNs) by pilots sent to sites by pilot factories. This paradigm serves to allow a high job reliability and although it has clear advantages, such as making the working environment homogeneous, the approach presents security and traceability challenges. To address these challenges, gLExec can be used to let the payloads for each user be executed under a different UNIX user id that uniquely identifies the ATLAS user. This paper describes the recent improvements and evolution of the security model within the ATLAS PanDA system, including improvements in the PanDA pilot, in the PanDA server and their integration with MyProxy, a credential caching system that entitles a person or a service to act in the name of the issuer of the credential. Finally, it presents results from ATLAS user jobs running with gLExec and describes the deployment campaign within ATLAS.

Serotonin (5-HT)-selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are widely administered for the treatment of depression, anxiety, and other neuropsychiatric disorders, but response rates are low, and side effects often lead to discontinuation. Side effect profiles suggest that SSRIs inhibit dopaminergic activity, but mechanistic insight remains scarce. Here we show that in mice, chronic 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) blockade during adulthood but not during development impairs basal ganglia-dependent behaviors in a dose-dependent and reversible fashion. Furthermore, chronic 5-HTT blockade reduces striatal dopamine (DA) content and metabolism. A causal relationship between reduced DA signaling and impaired basal ganglia-dependent behavior is indicated by the reversal of behavioral deficits through L-DOPA administration. Our data suggest that augmentation of DA signaling would reduce side effects and increase efficacies of SSRI-based therapy. PMID:22049417

We present here the organization of the recently-constituted da Vinci European BioBank (daVEB, https://www.davincieuropeanbiobank.org/it). The biobank was created as an infrastructure to support the activities of the Fiorgen Foundation (http://www.fiorgen.net/), a nonprofit organization that promotes research in the field of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. The way operating procedures concerning samples and data have been developed at daVEB largely stems from the strong metabolomics connotation of Fiorgen and from the involvement of the scientific collaborators of the foundation in international/European projects aimed to tackle the standardization of pre-analytical procedures and the promotion of data standards in metabolomics. PMID:25913579

The PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) system has been developed to meet ATLAS production and analysis requirements for a data-driven workload management system capable of operating at LHC data processing scale. PanDA has performed well with high reliability and robustness during the two years of LHC data-taking, while being actively evolved to meet the rapidly changing requirements for analysis use cases. We will present an overview of system evolution including automatic rebrokerage and reattempt for analysis jobs, adaptation for the CernVM File System, support for the multi-cloud model through which Tier-2 sites act as members of multiple clouds, pledged resource management and preferential brokerage, and monitoring improvements. We will also describe results from the analysis of two years of PanDA usage statistics, current issues, and plans for the future.

New soft X-ray/EUV photometric observations of the DA white dwarfs KPD 0631 + 1043 = WD 0631 + 107 and PG 1113 + 413 = WD 1113 + 413 are analyzed. Previously reported soft X-ray detections of three other DAs and the failure to detect a fourth DA in deep Exosat observations are investigated. New ground-based spectra are presented for all of the objects, with IUE Ly-alpha spectra for some. These data are used to constrain the effective temperatures and surface gravities. The improved estimates of these parameters are employed to refer a photospheric He abundance for the hotter objects and to elucidate an effective observational low-temperature threshold for the detection of pure hydrogen DA white dwarfs at soft X-ray wavelengths.

The PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) workload management system (WMS) was developed to meet the scale and complexity of LHC distributed computing for the ATLAS experiment. While PanDA currently distributes jobs to more than 100,000 cores at well over 100 Grid sites, the future LHC data taking runs will require more resources than Grid computing can possibly provide. To alleviate these challenges, ATLAS is engaged in an ambitious program to expand the current computing model to include additional resources such as the opportunistic use of supercomputers. We will describe a project aimed at integration of PanDA WMS with Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF). The current approach utilizes a modified PanDA pilot framework for job submission to Titan's batch queues and local data management, with light-weight MPI wrappers to run single threaded workloads in parallel on Titan's multicore worker nodes. It also gives PanDA new capability to collect, in real time, information about unused worker nodes on Titan, which allows precise definition of the size and duration of jobs submitted to Titan according to available free resources. This capability significantly reduces PanDA job wait time while improving Titan's utilization efficiency. This implementation was tested with a variety of Monte-Carlo workloads on Titan and is being tested on several other supercomputing platforms. Notice: This manuscript has been authored, by employees of Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The publisher by accepting the manuscript for publication acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

We present new observations of the `supernova impostor' SN 2010da using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. During the initial 2010 outburst, the 0.3-10 keV luminosity was observed by Swift to be ˜5 × 1038 erg s-1 and faded by a factor of ˜25 in a four month period. Our two new Chandra observations show a factor of ˜10 increase in the 0.35-8 keV X-ray luminosity, from ˜4 × 1036 to 4 × 1037 erg s-1 in ˜6 months, and the X-ray spectrum is consistent in both observations with a power-law with a photon index of Γ ˜ 0. We find evidence of X-ray spectral state changes: when SN 2010da is in a high-luminosity state, the X-ray spectrum is harder (Γ ˜0) compared to the low-luminosity state (Γ ˜ 1.2 ± 0.8). Using our Hubble observations, we fit the colour-magnitude diagram of the coeval stellar population to estimate a time since formation of the SN 2010da progenitor system of ≲5 Myr. Our observations are consistent with SN 2010da being a high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) composed of a neutron star and a luminous blue variable-like companion, although we cannot rule out the possibility that SN 2010da is an unusually X-ray bright massive star. The ≲5 Myr age is consistent with the theoretically predicted delay time between the formation of a massive binary and the onset of the HMXB phase. It is possible that the initial 2010 outburst marked the beginning of X-ray production in the system, making SN 2010da possibly the first massive progenitor binary ever observed to evolve into an HMXB.

The Na/Ca exchanger is associated with 160, 120 and 70 kDa polypeptides whose nature is poorly understood. We have purified and characterized the Na/Ca exchanger from bovine cardiac sarcolemmal vesicles (SLVs) by using ion-exchange and affinity chromatographies. The Na/Ca exchanger-enriched fraction was reconstituted into asolectin liposomes [lipid to protein ratio 10:1 (w/w)] that showed Na/Ca exchange activity. Under non-reducing conditions, SDS/PAGE showed a single 70 kDa polypeptide, which was further characterized by immunoblots with different antibodies: SWant, raised against the purified exchanger protein; NH2-terminus, residues 1-21; NCX1, residues 393-406; and Exon F, residues 622-644. Immunoblots under reducing conditions with SWant, NH2-terminus and NCX1 showed three bands migrating at 160, 120 and 70 kDa for SLV preparations, whereas Exon F reacted only with the 160 and 120 kDa bands. Under non-reducing conditions, immunoblots with purified reconstituted Na/Ca exchanger showed a single band at 70 kDa reacting with SWant, NH2-terminus and NCX1 but not with Exon F. We conclude that the 70 kDa protein is associated with Na/Ca exchange activity, has the same N-terminal sequence as the cloned bovine cardiac exchanger, and has its length decreased by at least 35% from its C-terminal portion as compared with that of the wild-type exchanger. PMID:9931309

A mineral phosphate solubilizing bacterium, Burkholderia cepacia DA23 has been isolated from cultivated soils. Phosphate-solubilizing activities of the strain against three types of insoluble phosphate were quantitatively determined. When 3% of glucose concentration was used for carbon source, the strain had a marked mineral phosphate-solubilizing activity. Mineral phosphate solubilization was directly related to the pH drop by the strain. Analysis of the culture medium by high pressure liquid chromatography identified gluconic acid as the main organic acid released by Burkholderia cepacia DA23. Gluconic acid production was apparently the result of the glucose dehydrogenase activity and glucose dehydrogenase was affected by phosphate regulation. PMID:24031195

A method for the automatic calculation of the atmospheric parameters (Teff and log g) of hydrogen-rich degenerate stars from low-resolution spectra is described, and then applied to the spectra of 53 DA white dwarfs. A value for the width of the DA mass distribution of sigma M/solar-M not greater than +0.10 is obtained using the proposed approach. The data indicate that the distribution is asymmetrically skewed to low masses; however, there is also evidence of a high-mass non-Gaussian tail.

The article examines how the discursive, social, and political processes that nationalized the Amazon gained firm footing during Brazil's First Republic. It is argued that Euclides da Cunha's texts on the Amazon see the forest and narrate its story in a way that differs from the travel accounts of nineteenth-century naturalists, above all foreign ones. Drawing inspiration from Latin American cultural studies, the article reinforces the argument that there is a historical discontinuity between the romantic foreign travel literature of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth-century writings of Euclides da Cunha. PMID:21461535

This paper will discuss the methodology used in designing the rotor and drive propellers for the third generation Cal Poly Da Vinci Human-Powered Helicopter. The rotor was designed using a lifting surface, uniform inflow hover analysis code and the propeller was designed using a minimum induced-loss method. Construction, geometry, and operating considerations are discussed as they impact the designs. Optimization of the design performance is also explained. The propellers were tested in a wind tunnel and results are compared with theoretical data. Successful flight tests of the Da Vinci III are discussed.

A complex family of 4.1R isoforms has been identified in non-erythroid tissues. In this study we characterized the exonic composition of brain 4.1R-10-kDa or spectrin/actin binding (SAB) domain and identified the minimal sequences required to stimulate fodrin/F-actin association. Adult rat brain expresses predominantly 4.1R mRNAs that carry an extended SAB, consisting of the alternative exons 14/15/16 and part of the constitutive exon 17. Exon 16 along with sequences carried by exon 17 is necessary and sufficient to induce formation of fodrin-actin-4.1R ternary complexes. The ability of the respective SAB domains of 4.1 homologs to sediment fodrin/actin was also investigated. 4.1G-SAB stimulates association of fodrin/actin, although with an approximately 2-fold reduced efficiency compared with 4.1R-10-kDa, whereas 4.1N and 4.1B do not. Sequencing of the corresponding domains revealed that 4.1G-SAB carries a cassette that shares significant homology with 4.1R exon 16, whereas the respective sequence is divergent in 4.1N and absent from brain 4.1B. An approximately 150-kDa 4.1R and an approximately 160-kDa 4.1G isoforms are present in PC12 lysates that occur in vivo in a supramolecular complex with fodrin and F-actin. Moreover, proteins 4.1R and 4.1G are distributed underneath the plasma membrane in PC12 cells. Collectively, these observations suggest that brain 4.1R and 4.1G may modulate the membrane mechanical properties of neuronal cells by promoting fodrin/actin association. PMID:11274145

Human growth hormone (GH) is suspected to be widely and illegally used in sport to improve athletes' performance. For the detection of GH abuse, blood samples are screened for abnormal ratios between the 22 and 20 kDa GH proteoforms that demonstrate the administration of the synthetic hormone. Current detection methods are based on classical immunoassays as they provide sufficient sensitivity for the detection of GH proteoforms. These antibody based methods, however, suffer from unclear selectivity and potential cross-reactivity towards similar proteins. For unambiguous GH detection, we report a Mass Spectrometry ImmunoAssay (MSIA) that first enriches GH from plasma with an antibody of relatively low specificity, and subsequently quantifies the 22 and 20 kDa proteoforms by Selected Reaction Monitoring (SRM) LC-MS/MS analysis. This method proved superior to an antibody-free strategy based on GH purification by protein precipitation. Using GH-MSIA we successfully quantified the 22/20 kDa GH ratio in post-exercise capillary plasma extracted from two individuals. This GH-MSIA is applicable to anti-doping and GH-related disease analysis. PMID:25556001

The 37/67 kDa laminin receptor (LR) is a non-integrin protein, which binds both laminin-1 of the extracellular matrix and prion proteins, that hold a central role in prion diseases. The 37/67 kDa LR has been identified as interactor for the prion protein (PrPC) and to be required for pathological PrP (PrPSc) propagation in scrapie-infected neuronal cells, leading to the possibility that 37/67 kDa LR-PrPC interaction is related to the pathogenesis of prion diseases. A relationship between 37/67 kDa LR and PrPC in the presence of specific LR inhibitor compounds has not been investigated yet. We have characterized the trafficking of 37/67 kDa LR in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells, finding the receptor on the cell surface and nuclei, and identified the 67 kDa LR as the almost exclusive isoform interacting with PrPC. Here, we show that the treatment with the 37/67 kDa LR inhibitor, NSC47924, affects both the direct 37/67 kDa LR-PrPC interaction in vitro and the formation of the immunocomplex in live cells, inducing a progressive internalization of 37/67 kDa LR and stabilization of PrPC on the cell surface. These data reveal NSC47924 as a useful tool to regulate PrPC and 37/67 kDa LR trafficking and degradation, representing a novel small molecule to be tested against prion diseases. PMID:27071549

Background/Aims DA-9701 is a novel prokinetic agent. In the present study, we investigated the effect of DA-9701 on the motility of the gastric antrum in the normal and clonidine-induced hypomotility in an in vivo animal model. Methods A strain gauge force transducer was sutured on the gastric antrum to measure the contractile activity in rats. A total of 28 rats were subclassified into the 4 groups: (1) the placebo group, (2) the DA-9701 group, (3) the placebo group in the clonidine-pretreated rats, and (4) the DA-9701 group in the clonidine-pretreated rats. After the basal recording, either placebo (3% [w/v] hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose) or DA-9701 was administered. Contractile signals were measured after the administration and after a meal. In the clonidine-pretreated rats, either placebo or DA-9701 was administered. Contractile signals were measured after the administration and after a meal. Results Oral administration of DA-9701 did not significantly alter the motility index of the gastric antrum in the preprandial and postprandial periods, compared with the placebo group. The administration of clonidine decreased the motility index of the gastric antrum in the preprandial and postprandial periods, compared with the administration of placebo. This reduction of the antral motility by the administration of clonidine was not observed in the clonidine-pretreated DA-9701 group. The percentage of the motility index in the postprandial period was significantly greater in the clonidine-pretreated DA-9701 group, compared with the clonidine-pretreated placebo group. Conclusions DA-9701 improves the hypomotility of the gastric antrum induced by clonidine, suggesting its gastroprokinetic effect in the pathologic condition. PMID:26755679

... 32 National Defense 3 2011-07-01 2009-07-01 true Service of process on DA or Secretary of Army. 516.14 Section 516.14 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY AID OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LITIGATION Service of Process § 516.14 Service of process on...

Whey proteins from soybean seeds of Japanese varieties were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Among 11 varieties of soybean, three green and one black soybeans lacked a 26-kDa band that was found in all yellow soybeans. In this paper, the 26-kDa protein was named AS26k (acid soluble 26-kDa protein) temporarily. The AS26k protein was purified from Glycine max cv. Nattosyoryu, which is yellow soybean, through four purification steps: 30-35% saturated ammonium sulfate fractionation, ion exchange chromatography on S Sepharose Fast Flow, gel filtration on Sephadex G-100, and hydrophobic chromatography on phenyl Sepharose CL-4B. Purified AS26k was cleaved with V8 proteinase from Staphylococcus aureus or CNBr. The cleaved polypeptide contained two typical dehydrin motif sequences: DEYGNPV and (M)DKIKEKLPG, and a 19 amino acids sequence similar to a pea dehydrin. Native AS26k had a molecular mass of 32 kDa on gel filtration and a pl of 7.2 on two-dimensional PAGE. Similarly to other dehydrins and late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins, AS26k was rich in hydrophilic amino acids, and highly heat stable. These results showed that AS26k was a dehydrin, a group II LEA protein in soybean seeds. PMID:9301109

Disaster loss datasets are built using economic assessments done by different parties and using different approaches which are in many cases inconsistent. This is observed in more than 75% of the Alabanian records with missing economic evaluations. To assess the economic impact of disasters at all scales in Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2011 and 2013 has used the DaLA methodology that takes advantage of a common and homogeneous set of quantitative physical damage indicators contained in the disaster databases. These have to be taken as the lower bound of the damage, which in general is higher. The UN-ECLAC DaLA Methodology takes into account in its assessments the overall status of economy of the affected country. It uses the national accounts and statistics of the country government as baseline data to assess damage and loss. It also factors in the impact of disasters on individual livelihoods and incomes to fully define the needs for recovery and reconstruction. Similarly to national disaster loss databases DaLA assessments have a national level of observation and data produced at sub-national resolution, resulting in highly detailed and accurate data sets. In 2013 in Albania was implemented a collection of disaster losses based on Desinventar. We applied the DaLa methodology to the Albanian database of impacts of natural disasters.

The long-term dynamical evolution of 21 variational orbits for the intermediate-period asteroid 1991 DA was followed for up to +/-10(exp 5) years from the present. 1991 DA is close to the 2:7 resonance with Jupiter; it has avoided close encounters, within 1 AU, with this planet for at least the past 30,000 years, even at the node crossing. The future evolution typically shows no close encounters with Jupiter within at least 50,000 years. This corresponds to the mean time between node crossings with either Jupiter or Saturn. Close encounters with Saturn and Jupiter lead to a chaotic evolution for the whole ensemble, while secular perturbations cause large-amplitude swings in eccentricity and inclination (the latter covering the range 15 deg approximately less than i approximately less than 85 deg) which correlate with deep excursions of the perihelion distance to values much less than 1 AU. These variations are similar to those found in P/Machholz and a variety of other high-inclination orbits, e.g., P/Hartley-IRAS. We emphasize the connection between the orbital evolution of 1991 DA and that of Halley-type comets. If 1991 DA was once a comet, it is not surprising that it is now extinct.

Dynamic assessment (DA) derives from the sociocultural theory of mind as elaborated by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky. By offering mediation when individuals experience difficulties and carefully tracing their responsiveness, Vygotsky (1998) proposed that diagnoses may uncover abilities that have fully formed as well as those still in the…

Syntaxin 1, synaptobrevins or vesicle-associated membrane proteins, and the synaptosome-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25) are key molecules involved in the docking and fusion of synaptic vesicles with the presynaptic membrane. We report here the molecular, cell biological, and biochemical characterization of a 32-kDa protein homologous to both SNAP-25 (20% amino acid sequence identity) and the recently identified SNAP-23 (19% amino acid sequence identity). Northern blot analysis shows that the mRNA for this protein is widely expressed. Polyclonal antibodies against this protein detect a 32-kDa protein present in both cytosol and membrane fractions. The membrane-bound form of this protein is revealed to be primarily localized to the Golgi apparatus by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy, a finding that is further established by electron microscopy immunogold labeling showing that this protein is present in tubular-vesicular structures of the Golgi apparatus. Biochemical characterizations establish that this protein behaves like a SNAP receptor and is thus named Golgi SNARE of 32 kDa (GS32). GS32 in the Golgi extract is preferentially retained by the immobilized GST-syntaxin 6 fusion protein. The coimmunoprecipitation of syntaxin 6 but not syntaxin 5 or GS28 from the Golgi extract by antibodies against GS32 further sustains the preferential interaction of GS32 with Golgi syntaxin 6. PMID:9880331

Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is a cytokine with a variety of immunological properties. The identification of two receptors for this molecule, i.e. the 75 kDa and the 55 kDa TNF receptors (TNF-R), recently clarified the mechanisms through which this cytokine provides its wide range of immunomodulatory activities. In this study we have investigated the expression and the functional properties of these receptors on tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) recovered from 17 patients with solid cancers (melanoma, colorectal carcinoma and lung cancer). To this end, TIL lines and freshly isolated TILs were evaluated for (a) the expression and the functional role of TNF receptors following culture in the presence of interleukin 2 (IL-2) and (b) the production of TNF-alpha following culture with IL-2 and the role of this cytokine in IL-2-driven TIL proliferation. Flow cytometry analysis demonstrated that TILs bear the 75 kDa TNF-R. Moreover, TIL lines express detectable messages for TNF-alpha and release this cytokine. Functional in vitro studies have shown that anti-TNF-alpha, as well as anti-75 kDa TNF-R antibodies, are able to inhibit the IL-2-induced TIL proliferation. These data demonstrate that TILs are equipped with a fully functional TNF-R system and suggest a putative role for this receptor and its ligand in the activation and expression of TILs following immunotherapy with IL-2. Images Figure 2 PMID:7841036

The symbiotic bacterium Holospora obtusa infects the macronucleus of the ciliate Paramecium caudatum. After ingestion by its host, an infectious form of Holospora with an electron-translucent tip passes through the host digestive vacuole and penetrates the macronuclear envelope with this tip. To investigate the underlying molecular mechanism of this process, we raised a monoclonal antibody against the tip-specific 89-kDa protein, sequenced this partially, and identified the corresponding complete gene. The deduced protein sequence carries two actin-binding motifs. Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy shows that during escape from the host digestive vacuole, the 89-kDa proteins translocates from the inside to the outside of the tip. When the bacterium invades the macronucleus, the 89-kDa protein is left behind at the entry point of the nuclear envelope. Transmission electron microscopy shows the formation of fine fibrous structures that co-localize with the antibody-labeled regions of the bacterium. Our findings suggest that the 89-kDa protein plays a role in Holospora's escape from the host digestive vacuole, the migration through the host cytoplasm, and the invasion into the macronucleus.

... Electric Utility Steam Generating Units § 60.50Da Compliance determination procedures and methods. (a) In... operator of an electric utility combined cycle gas turbine that does not meet the definition of an IGCC... of this part. The SO2 and NOX emission rates calculations from the gas turbine used in Method 19...

... Electric Utility Steam Generating Units § 60.50Da Compliance determination procedures and methods. (a) In... calculations from the gas turbine used in Method 19 of appendix A-7 of this part are determined when the gas turbine is performance tested under subpart GG of this part. The potential uncontrolled PM emission...

... Electric Utility Steam Generating Units § 60.50Da Compliance determination procedures and methods. (a) In... operator of an electric utility combined cycle gas turbine that does not meet the definition of an IGCC... of this part. The SO2 and NOX emission rates calculations from the gas turbine used in Method 19...

At the Sixth Annual Reunion of the Brazilian Association of Medical Schools (VI Reuniao Anual da Associacao Brasileira de Escolas Medicas) leaders in the Brazilian medical profession proposed an integrated educational program for training students in the fields of medicine and public health. Under Brazil's present system of education, all…

MP (Ritalin) is a psychomotor stimulant used in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The therapeutic properties of MP are thought to be mediated by its binding to a site on the DA transporter, resulting in inhibition of DA reuptake and enhanced levels of synaptic dopamine. MP also inhibits reuptake of norepinephrine (NE) in vitro. MP has two chiral centers, but its pharmacological activity is believed due solely to the d-threo isomer. We have found that d,l-threo-C-11 MP has favorable properties for PET studies, and therefore examined the effects of incorporating halogen atoms into the phenyl ring of MP, with a view to preparing C-11 and I-123 MP analogs as potential PET/SPECT tracers. We synthesized the 2-, 3- and 4-bromo MP analogs from the corresponding bromophenylacetonitriles by modification of the original synthesis of MP. In in vitro binding assays all three d,l-threo bromo compounds had higher affinities than MP for DA transporter sites labeled with tritiated WIN 35,428 (3->4-, 2->MP). They also showed high activity with NE reuptake sites labeled with tritiated nisoxetine. They were active in vivo as demonstrated by inhibition of heart uptake of tritiated NE in the mouse, and elevation of striatal extracellular DA (microdialysis) and stimulation of locomotor activity in the rat.

The Production and Distributed Analysis system (PanDA) has been in use in the ATLAS Experiment since 2005. It uses a sophisticated pilot system to execute submitted jobs on the worker nodes. While originally designed for ATLAS, the PanDA Pilot has recently been refactored to facilitate use outside of ATLAS. Experiments are now handled as plug-ins such that a new PanDA Pilot user only has to implement a set of prototyped methods in the plug-in classes, and provide a script that configures and runs the experiment-specific payload. We will give an overview of the Next Generation PanDA Pilot system and will present major features and recent improvements including live user payload debugging, data access via the Federated XRootD system, stage-out to alternative storage elements, support for the new ATLAS DDM system (Rucio), and an improved integration with glExec, as well as a description of the experiment-specific plug-in classes. The performance of the pilot system in processing LHC data on the OSG, LCG and Nordugrid infrastructures used by ATLAS will also be presented. We will describe plans for future development on the time scale of the next few years.

... 32 National Defense 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Service of process on DA or Secretary of Army. 516.14 Section 516.14 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY AID OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LITIGATION Service of Process § 516.14 Service of process on...

In 2005, Spanish television audiences saw the debut of the nation's first spinoff, the sitcom "Aída." The show featured the tribulations of its title character and her working-class family in their struggle to "llegar a fin de mes." It seemed to promise a sensibility enacted in the US series "Roseanne," where…

This dissertation investigates the contextual factors that affect the understanding and interpretation of one Japanese topicalized construction, NP[subscript 1] wa NP[subscript 2] da sentences, by native speakers of Japanese. The construction allows two possibilities in the relation between the NP[subscript 1] and the NP[subscript 2]. When the two…

We agree with Dr. da Silva, and wish to clarify three issues raised by the recent IOM report concerning our 2009 meta-analysis on vitamin D and fall prevention. 1. The IOM questioned the inclusion of Broe et al., which did not pre-specify falls as a primary or secondary outcome. While this did viol...

Discusses the success of the Leonardo da Vinci program, a European laboratory of innovation in vocational training, a priority focus of investment in human resources and intelligence, and a way to mobilize innovative forces beyond national boundaries. Trends identified by the program focus on new information and communication technologies. (JOW)

This report gives an overview of the situation of transparency of vocational qualifications by presenting measures introduced at the European Community level and by drawing attention to projects within the Leonardo da Vinci Program dealing with the issue. A 16-page executive summary appears first. Chapter 1 provides general background and aims.…

PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) is the workload management system of the ATLAS experiment, used to run managed production and user analysis jobs on the grid. As a late-binding, pilot-based system, the maintenance of a smooth and steady stream of pilot jobs to all grid sites is critical for PanDA operation. The ATLAS Computing Facility (ACF) at BNL, as the ATLAS Tier1 center in the US, operates the pilot submission systems for the US. This is done using the PanDA 'AutoPilot' scheduler component which submits pilot jobs via Condor-G, a grid job scheduling system developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In this paper, we discuss the operation and performance of the Condor-G pilot submission at BNL, with emphasis on the challenges and issues encountered in the real grid production environment. With the close collaboration of Condor and PanDA teams, the scalability and stability of the overall system has been greatly improved over the last year. We review improvements made to Condor-G resulting from this collaboration, including isolation of site-based issues by running a separate Gridmanager for each remote site, introduction of the 'Nonessential' job attribute to allow Condor to optimize its behavior for the specific character of pilot jobs, better understanding and handling of the Gridmonitor process, as well as better scheduling in the PanDA pilot scheduler component. We will also cover the monitoring of the health of the system.

PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis) is the workload management system of the ATLAS experiment, used to run managed production and user analysis jobs on the grid. As a late-binding, pilot-based system, the maintenance of a smooth and steady stream of pilot jobs to all grid sites is critical for PanDA operation. The ATLAS Computing Facility (ACF) at BNL, as the ATLAS Tier1 center in the US, operates the pilot submission systems for the US. This is done using the PanDA "AutoPilot" scheduler component which submits pilot jobs via Condor-G, a grid job scheduling system developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In this paper, we discuss the operation and performance of the Condor-G pilot submission at BNL, with emphasis on the challenges and issues encountered in the real grid production environment. With the close collaboration of Condor and PanDA teams, the scalability and stability of the overall system has been greatly improved over the last year. We review improvements made to Condor-G resulting from this collaboration, including isolation of site-based issues by running a separate Gridmanager for each remote site, introduction of the 'Nonessential' job attribute to allow Condor to optimize its behavior for the specific character of pilot jobs, better understanding and handling of the Gridmonitor process, as well as better scheduling in the PanDA pilot scheduler component. We will also cover the monitoring of the health of the system.

Vitellogenin, an egg-yolk protein precursor common to oviparous animals, is found abundantly in honeybee workers – a caste of helpers that do not usually lay eggs. Instead, honeybee vitellogenin (180 kDa) participates in processes other than reproduction: it influences hormone signaling, food-related behavior, immunity, stress resistance and longevity. The molecular basis of these functions is largely unknown. Here, we establish and compare the molecular properties of vitellogenin from honeybee hemolymph (blood) and abdominal fat body, two compartments that are linked to vitellogenin functions. Our results reveal a novel 40 kDa vitellogenin fragment in abdominal fat body tissue, the main site for vitellogenin synthesis and storage. Using MALDI-TOF combined with MS/MS mass-spectroscopy, we assign the 40 kDa fragment to the N terminus of vitellogenin, whereas a previously observed 150 kDa fragment corresponded to the remainder of the protein. We show that both protein units are N glycosylated and phosphorylated. Focusing on the novel 40 kDa fragment, we present a homology model based on the structure of lamprey lipovitellin that includes a conserved β-barrel-like shape, with a lipophilic cavity in the interior and two insect-specific loops that have not been described before. Our data indicate that the honeybee fat body vitellogenin experiences cleavage unlike hemolymph vitellogenin, a pattern that can suggest a tissue-specific role. Our experiments advance the molecular understanding of vitellogenin, of which the multiple physiological and behavioral effects in honeybees are well established. PMID:21270306

Terceira island (Azores) have experienced several strong earthquakes, especially on the eastern and south-eastern part of the island with maximum MM intensity of VIII in 1800, 1801 and 1912 and IX in 1614 and 1841. Seismicity of the eastern part of the island is largely dominated by the tectonic of the NW-SE Lajes graben where are located Praia da Vitória and other setlements. Praia da Vitória is settled partially over pyroclastic material(pumice and ignimbrite) deposited around 20'000 years ago and forming part of the UpperTerceira Group. Its thickness is 15m on the north but in Praia da Vitoria has less than one meter.. It is sited on by basaltic flow of the upper Basaltic Terceira Group (2,000y BP) and a thick andesitic lava flow. A narrow band with sand dunes and beach crossed this deposits along Praia da Vitória and behind it appear a flat area with 7-10m of round cobbles that is interpreted as an old boulders'beach. Thickness of these different deposits are tricky to estimate in urban areas since very few outcrops are present. In order to assess site amplification of seismic waves due to the soil conditions, we perform horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) method from broad band ambient noise measurements in 51 different sites within Praia da Vitoria. The first results show that the frequencies of the study area are variable, lying between 0.6-12 Hz. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: João Fontiela is supported by grant M3.1.2/F/060/2011 provided by the Regional Science Fund of the Azores Regional Government. This study was partially funded by the Institute of Earth Sciences, Portugal, under the contract with the FCT, ICT-UID/GEO/04683/2013 (Portugal).

1. A specific antibody was developed against the disulphide-bound 118 kDa glycoprotein of human intestinal mucin and used to establish an e.l.i.s.a. Fourteen purified mucins [eight normal (N) and six cystic fibrosis (CF)] had the same affinity for the antibody in the e.l.i.s.a., but their relative immunoreactivities varied widely (approx. 100,000-fold). In general, CF mucins were more antigenic than N mucins. 2. Variations (approx. 10-fold) were detected in the 118 kDa glycoprotein content of both N and CF mucins (assessed from Coomassie Blue-stained polyacrylamide gels), but these did not appear to be responsible for the differences in mucin immunoreactivity. 3. Variations (approx. 6-fold) were also observed in the size of the 118 kDa peak produced by N and CF mucins on Western blots. These were mostly due to differences in the 118 kDa glycoprotein content of mucins, although a small proportion resulted from changes in the number of antigenic determinants within individual 118 kDa glycoproteins. 4. After concanavalin A affinity chromatography of four reduced mucins (two N and two CF), purified 118 kDa glycoprotein was recovered in the bound fractions from the column, specifically eluted by methyl alpha-mannoside. 5. The amounts of 118 kDa glycoprotein isolated from the four mucins varied as predicted from the size of their 118 kDa bands on Coomassie Blue-stained gels. 6. Three 118 kDa glycoproteins (one N and two CF) showed almost identical reactivity in the e.l.i.s.a.; the fourth had fewer antigenic determinants. 7. Since differences in 118 kDa glycoprotein content and in the number of antigenic determinants within the 118 kDa glycoprotein did not account for variations in the reactivity of native mucins in the e.l.i.s.a., it appeared that accessibility of the 118 kDa glycoprotein to antibody binding may be critical in determining mucin immunoreactivity. This suggests that the three-dimensional conformation of CF mucins may differ from that of N mucins, leading

The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effects of DA-9801, an optimized extract of Dioscorea species, on diabetic peripheral neuropathy in a type 2 diabetic animal model. In this study, db/db mice were treated with DA-9801 (30 and 100 mg/kg, daily, p.o.) for 12 weeks. DA-9801 reduced the blood glucose levels and increased the withdrawal latencies in hot plate tests. Moreover, it prevented nerve damage based on increased nerve conduction velocity and ultrastructural changes. Decrease of nerve growth factor (NGF) may have a detrimental effect on diabetic neuropathy. We previously reported NGF regulatory properties of the Dioscorea genus. In this study, DA-9801 induced NGF production in rat primary astrocytes. In addition, it increased NGF levels in the sciatic nerve and the plasma of type 2 diabetic animals. DA-9801 also increased neurite outgrowth and mRNA expression of Tieg1/Klf10, an NGF target gene, in PC12 cells. These results demonstrated the attenuation of diabetic peripheral neuropathy by oral treatment with DA-9801 via NGF regulation. DA-9801 is currently being evaluated in a phase II clinical study. PMID:25414776

Background/Aims DA-6034 has anti-inflammatory activities and exhibits cytoprotective effects in acute gastric injury models. However, explanations for the protective effects of DA-6034 on intestinal permeability are limited. This study sought to investigate the effect of DA-6034 on intestinal permeability in an indomethacin-induced small intestinal injury model and its protective effect against small intestinal injury. Methods Rats in the treatment group received DA-6034 from days 0 to 2 and indomethacin from days 1 to 2. Rats in the control group received indomethacin from days 1 to 2. On the fourth day, the small intestines were examined to compare the severity of inflammation. Intestinal permeability was evaluated by using fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextran. Western blotting was performed to confirm the association between DA-6034 and the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. Results The inflammation scores in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group, but the difference was statistically insignificant. Hemorrhagic lesions in the treatment group were broader than those in the control group, but the difference was statistically insignificant. Intestinal permeability was lower in the treatment group than in the control group. DA-6034 enhanced extracellular signal-regulated kinase expression, and intestinal permeability was negatively correlated with ERK expression. Conclusions DA-6034 may decrease intestinal permeability in an indomethacin-induced intestinal injury model via the ERK pathway. PMID:27114435

Dark Agouti (DA) rats are highly susceptible to induction of Th-l-mediated autoimmunity disease, including experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). In contrast to other susceptible rat strains in which disease is induced only with encephalitogen emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvants (CFA), in DA rats EAE develops after injection of encephalitogen in incomplete Freund's adjuvants (IFA) or Titermax, putative Th-2 directed adjuvant. Lymph node cells derived from immunized DA rats and stimulated in vitro produce significantly more Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) than resistant Albino Oxford (AO) rats. However, cells derived from both strains produce large amounts of IL-10 but not IL-4. Immunized lymph node cells derived from EAE susceptible (AO × DA) F1rats induce clinical signs of disease in sublethally irradiated parental DA but not AO rats. The pathohistology of the target tissue in these recipients clearly demonstrated infiltration of mononuclear cells in both parental strains. However, the number of CD4+ cells was significantly higher and number of apoptotic cells significantly lower in DA rats sacrificed 8 days after passive transfer. We postulate that in addition to higher IFN-γ and TNF-α production, resistance to early apoptosis of the invading cells in the target tissue possibly due to lack of downregulation by TGF-β leads to exceptional susceptibility to EAE in DA rats. PMID:11785669

While analyzing tandem mass spectra of tryptic tripeptides, intense unassigned peaks were observed, corresponding to neutral loss of 45 Da from a2 ions. This process was confirmed by MS3 experiments. Based on exact mass analysis, the loss was ascribed to (NH3 + CO) or formamide. The proposed mechanism involves a cyclic form of the a2 ions. The structure of the a2 - 45 ions was confirmed by their fragmentation in MS3 experiments. Loss of (NH3 + CO) from the a2 ions occurs in competition with other paths, such as the loss of H2O or the formation of immonium ions. However, if the a2 ion contains methionine, a neutral loss of 48 Da (ascribed to CH3SH) predominates, and is followed by the loss of (NH3 + CO). These processes were confirmed by MS3 experiments. The intensity of the a2 - 48 peak formed from XaaMet has a maximum value of 42% (of the total intensity of all ions) for Xaa=Gly, varies between 15% and 40% for most other Xaa residues, is lower for residues that can undergo loss of water or ammonia, and is very low for Lys or Arg. When the order of the residues is reversed to MetXaa, the loss of 48 Da is much smaller. This effect can be used to determine the sequence of b2 ions containing Met in proteomic studies. Considerable loss of CH3SH is observed from doubly protonated tryptic tripeptides with N-terminal Met, but the loss is much less when they are singly protonated or when Met is in the center position.

Previous studies by the authors laboratory have indicated that inner medullary collecting ducts (IMCDs) express a novel dopamine (DA) receptor, designated DA2K, that is linked to stimulation of prostaglandin E2 production. This receptor has a distinct pharmacological profile and is similar in size, but not homologous to, the brain D2 receptor. Because the DA2-selective antagonist domperidone blocks DA-mediated stimulation of prostaglandin E2 production in IMCD cells, we utilized (3H)domperidone to study the binding characteristics of the DA2K receptor in IMCD cells. (3H)Domperidone binding was saturable and best fit to a single high density site (KD, 57.6 {plus minus} 10.5 nM; Bmax, 14.9 {plus minus} 2.7 pmol/mg protein). The specificity of (3H)domperidone binding in IMCD cells was verified by competition analysis with a variety of dopaminergic and nondopaminergic agents. Dopaminergic drugs were less potent competitors for (3H)domperidone binding in IMCD cells than previously reported for brain DA receptors, but the rank order was consistent with the labeling of a DA receptor (antagonists: domperidone greater than spiperone greater than haloperidol greater than Sch 23390 much greater than (-)-sulpiride; agonists: norapomorphine greater than fenoldopam much greater than dopamine = quinpirole), and was better correlated with the pharmacological profile for the brain D2 receptor than the brain D3 receptor. In addition, quinpirole, the most D3-selective ligand currently available, did not compete for (3H)domperidone binding in IMCD cells. These results add further support to the existence of a novel high density DA receptor, DA2K, expressed in IMCD cells.

It was shown by immunofluorescence method that serum M68 and serum K43 from patients with autoimmune disease stain interphase nuclei and periphery of mitotic chromosomes of pig kidney cells. Western blotting reveals the polypeptide with mol. mass of 50 kDa in serum M68, and the polypeptide with mol. mass of 38 kDa in serum K43. In the nuclear protein matrix, the antibodies to protein with mol. mass of 38 kDa stained only nucleolar periphery, while the antibodies to the protein with mol. mass of 50 kDa stained both the nucleolar periphery and all the interphase nucleus. It shows that among all components of nuclear protein matrix (lamina, internuclear network, residual nucleoli) only nucleolar periphery contains the 38 kDa protein, while the 50 kDa protein is a part of residual nucleolar periphery and takes part in nuclear protein network formation. In the interphase cells, both proteins were in situ localized in the nuclei, but one of them with mol. mass of 50 kDa was in the form of small clearly outlined granules, while the other (38 kDa) was in the form of small bright granules against the background of diffusely stained nuclei. Both proteins were also revealed as continuous ring around nucleolar periphery. During all mitotic stages, the 50 kDa protein was seen on the chromosomal periphery as a cover, and the 38 kDa protein formed separate fragments and granules around them. After nuclear and chromosome decondensation induced by hypotonic treatment, both antibodies stain interphase nuclei in diffuse manner, but in mitotic cells they stained the surface of the swollen chromosomes. The polypeptide with mol. mass of 50 kDa maintained strong connection with chromosome periphery both in norm and under condition of decondensation induced by hypotonic treatment and at subsequent recondensation in isotonic medium. In contrast, the protein with mol. mass of 38 kDa partially lost the contact with a chromosome during recondensation appearing also in the form of granules in

Sample size determination is a fundamental step in the design of experiments. Methods for sample size determination are abundant for univariate analysis methods, but scarce in the multivariate case. Omics data are multivariate in nature and are commonly investigated using multivariate statistical methods, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). No simple approaches to sample size determination exist for PCA and PLS-DA. In this paper we will introduce important concepts and offer strategies for (minimally) required sample size estimation when planning experiments to be analyzed using PCA and/or PLS-DA. PMID:27322847

Tristan da Cunha is a volcanic island in the South Atlantic close to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is part of an area consisting of widely scattered seamounts and small islands at the western and youngest end of the aseismic Walvis Ridge. Tristan da Cunha together with the Walvis Ridge represents the classical example of a mantle plume track, because of the connection to the Cretaceous Etendeka flood basalt province in NW Namibia. The genesis of the island has so far remained enigmatic. It is hotly debated, if Tristan da Cunha sits actually above a deep mantle plume or if it is only originated by upwelling material from weak (leaky) fracture zones. It also has to be clarified if there are any indications for a plume-ridge interaction. Geochemical investigations have shown complex compositions of magmatic samples from Tristan da Cunha, which could be interpreted as a mixing of plume-derived melts and depleted upper mantle sources. To improve our understanding about the origin of Tristan and to test the mantle plume hypothesis, we deployed 24 broadband ocean-bottom seismometers and 2 seismological land stations around and on the island during an expedition in January 2012 with the German research vessel Maria S. Merian. After acquiring continuous seismological data for almost one year, the seismometers were recovered in early January 2013. We cross-correlated the arrival times of teleseismic P and PKP phases to perform a finite-frequency tomography of the upper mantle beneath the study area. Here we show the 3D mantle structure in terms of velocity variations: We do not image a "classical" plume-like structure directly beneath Tristan da Cunha, but we observe regions of low velocities at the edges of our array that we relate to local mantle upwelling from potentially deeper sources. Additionally we discuss local seismicity within the Tristan da Cunha region, which show processes along the nearby mid-ocean ridge and transform faults. Furthermore, the local seismicity

Dialogs with the previous article establishing a comparative analysis between the political acceptance present in the reactionary speech of Dom Jose Mauricio da Rocha and in the monarchist words of Joaquim Nabuco. (PA)

Attention is given to model calculations of the far- and extreme-UV line spectra of highly ionized Fe species (Fe IV, Fe V, and Fe VI) for hot high-gravity H-rich stars. A spectral analysis of 31 hr of exposure of the DA white dwarf Feige 24 with IUE in the echelle mode reveals the presence of Fe with an abundance relative to H by number of (5-10) x 10 exp -6 with an uncertainty dominated by the determination of stellar parameters. An analysis of IUE data from the white dwarf G191 B2B results in a similar Fe abundance if this star shares similar atmospheric parameters (Teff, g) with Feige 24. Fe is thus the second most abundant photospheric element in hot DA white dwarfs.

Incubation of a 90-kDa ferritin repressor protein (FRP) with small amounts of radiolabeled hemin resulted in the formation of a strong interaction between the two that was stable to SDS/PAGE. Of seven other proteins tested individually, only apohemopexin and bovine serum albumin showed similar crosslinking ability, albeit to a much lower extent. ({sup 14}C)Hemin specifically crosslinked to FRP in the presence of a 50-fold excess of total wheat germ proteins. Inclusion of catalase did not prevent the reaction of hemin with FRP, suggesting that H{sub 2}O{sub 2} is not involved. The subsequent addition of a stoichiometric amount of apohemopexin did not reverse the reaction. Exhaustive digestion of the complex with Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease produced a major labeled peptide of 17 kDa. These results show the existence of a highly specific, uniquely reactive hemin binding site on FRP.

In view of the fact that as a child Sigmund Freud was looked after by two mothers--his actual mother and a nursemaid--it is hardly surprising that traces of this pre-oedipal situation, fraught as it was with traumatisation and loss, should be discernible in the works of the creator of psychoanalysis. Freud's continued preoccupation with the Oedipus myth, his interest in "great men" like da Vinci and Michelangelo, and finally his identification with the figure of Moses are pointers not only to the paternal dimension (as long suggested by Freud's biographers) but also to the maternal dimension and its significance for Freud's life and work. The author demonstrates that those mythical and historical figures which Freud identified with--Oedipus, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Moses--themselves all had two mothers and sublimated this traumatic experience into outstanding achievements, the same being true of Freud himself "who solved the famous riddle and was a most powerful man". PMID:8153361

Camera positioning is critical for all telerobotic surgical systems. Inadequate visualization of the remote site can lead to serious errors that can jeopardize the patient. An autonomous camera algorithm has been developed on a medical robot (da Vinci) simulator. It is found to be robust in key scenarios of operation. This system behaves with predictable and expected actions for the camera arm with respect to the tool positions. The implementation of this system is described herein. The simulation closely models the methodology needed to implement autonomous camera control in a real hardware system. The camera control algorithm follows three rules: (1) keep the view centered on the tools, (2) keep the zoom level optimized such that the tools never leave the field of view, and (3) avoid unnecessary movement of the camera that may distract/disorient the surgeon. Our future work will apply this algorithm to the real da Vinci hardware. PMID:27046563

A novel polypeptide with an apparent molecular mass of 9 kDa was detected after sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of Arabidopsis photosystem I (PSI) and was N-terminally sequenced. Corresponding cDNA clones encode a precursor protein of 140 amino acid residues which was imported into isolated intact chloroplasts and processed to the mature protein, designated PSI-O. The mature protein has two transmembrane helices and a calculated mass of 10104 Da. The PSI-O protein was also shown to be present in PSI isolated from barley and spinach, and was essentially absent in chloroplast grana. Expressed sequences encoding similar proteins are available from many species of plants and green algae. PMID:11801243

Two monomeric 32-kDa proteins, termed 32K-I (pI 5.8) and 32K-II (pI 5.1), were isolated from human placenta, which was solubilized by a Ca2+-chelator. Only 32K-I was associated with PLA2-inhibitory activity. CNBr peptide mapping indicated that 32K-I was distinct from 32K-II and two 36-kDa proteins, called calpactin I and II or lipocortin II and I, which have been shown to possess PLA2-inhibitory activity. 32K-I bound to PS in a Ca2+-dependent manner. 32K-I was detected in many tissues except brain, cardiac and skeletal muscle. PMID:3666152

The polymorphic forms of a new PDE-5 inhibitor DA-8159 were prepared and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder X-ray diffractometry (PXRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). Two crystal forms and one amorphous form of DA-8159 have been isolated by recrystallization and characterized by DSC, TG and PXRD. From the TG data it was confirmed that two crystal forms are neither solvates nor hydrates. The PXRD patterns of the two crystal forms were different. In the dissolution studies in simulated intestinal fluid at 37 ± 0.5°C, the solubility decreased in the order of amorphous form > Form 1 > Form 2. After storage of 60 days, Form 1 was transformed to Form 2. Form 2 was not transformed. The amorphous form was transformed to Form 2 at 52% R.H. and 95% R.H., but it did not transform at 0% R.H. PMID:22644853

We have previously reported on the importance of appropriate robot-arm settings and replacement of instrument ports in robot-assisted thoracic surgery, because the thoracic cavity requires a large space to access all lesions in various areas of the thoracic cavity from the apex to the diaphragm and mediastinum and the chest wall. (1 - 3) Moreover, it can be difficult to manipulate the da Vinci Surgical System using only arms No. 1 and No. 2 depending on the tumor location. However, arm No. 3 is usually positioned on the same side as arm No. 2, and sometimes it is only used as an assisting-arm to avoid conflict with other arms ( Fig. 1 ). In this report, we show how robot-arm No. 3 can be used with maximum effectiveness in da Vinci-assisted thoracic surgery. [Figure: see text]. PMID:26011219

Primary hyperparathyroidism is a relatively frequent disease whose incidence is often underestimated. It is caused by one or more hyperfunctioning parathyroid glands. Almost all pathologic glands (hyperplasia or adenoma) are located in the neck but 1-2% may be located in the mediastinum and may require a sternotomy or thoracotomy approach for resection. The thoracoscopic approach was proposed in 1994 and the DaVinci robotic system allows performance of this thoracoscopic procedure with the benefits of 3-dimensional vision, and improved surgical dexterity and ergonomics. We report a case of a patient with a parathyroid adenoma located in the aorto-pulmonary window which was resected using a left thoracoscopic approach aided by the Da Vinci robotic system. PMID:18645560

The discoloration of ancient paper, due to the development of oxidized groups acting as chromophores in its chief component, cellulose, is responsible for severe visual degradation in ancient artifacts. By adopting a non-destructive approach based on the combination of optical reflectance measurements and time-dependent density functional theory ab-initio calculations, we describe and quantify the chromophores affecting Leonardo da Vinci's iconic self-portrait. Their relative concentrations are very similar to those measured in modern and ancient samples aged in humid environments. This analysis quantifies the present level of optical degradation of the Leonardo da Vinci's self-portrait which, compared with future measurements, will assess its degradation rate. This is a fundamental information in order to plan appropriate conservation strategies.

We report our first experience of brain DaTSCAN SPECT imaging using cadmium-zinc-telluride gamma camera (CZT-GC) in 2 cases: a 64-year-old patient suffering from essential tremor and a 73-year-old patient presenting with atypical bilateral extrapyramidal syndrome. In both cases, 2 different acquisitions were performed and compared, using a double-head Anger-GC, followed immediately by a second acquisition on CZT-GC. There were no significant visual differences between images generated by different GC. Our first result suggests that DaTSCAN SPECT is feasible on CZT-GC, allowing both injected dose and acquisition time reductions without compromising image quality. This experience needs to be evaluated in larger series. PMID:22785531

For several years the PanDA Workload Management System has been the basis for distributed production and analysis for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Since the start of data taking PanDA usage has ramped up steadily, typically exceeding 500k completed jobs/day by June 2011. The associated monitoring data volume has been rising as well, to levels that present a new set of challenges in the areas of database scalability and monitoring system performance and efficiency. These challenges are being met with a R&D effort aimed at implementing a scalable and efficient monitoring data storage based on a noSQL solution (Cassandra). We present our motivations for using this technology, as well as data design and the techniques used for efficient indexing of the data. We also discuss the hardware requirements as they were determined by testing with actual data and realistic loads.

Exosat photometric observations of the hot DA white dwarfs GD 2 and EG 70 are presented and analyzed using model atmosphere and synthetic spectrum calculations. The numerical accuracy of the calculations and their impact on the reliability of the results are addressed. The optimum atmospheric parameters that explain the complete spectral coverage are derived. The consequences of these conjectures for the spectral evolution theory of white dwarf stars are considered.

Rozitis et al. recently reported that near-Earth asteroid (29075) 1950 DA, whose bulk density ranges from 1.0 g cm{sup –3} to 2.4 g cm{sup –3}, is a rubble pile and requires a cohesive strength of at least 44-76 Pa to keep from failing due to its fast spin period. Since their technique for giving failure conditions required the averaged stress over the whole volume, it discarded information about the asteroid's failure mode and internal stress condition. This paper develops a finite element model and revisits the stress and failure analysis of 1950 DA. For the modeling, we do not consider material hardening and softening. Under the assumption of an associated flow rule and uniform material distribution, we identify the deformation process of 1950 DA when its constant cohesion reaches the lowest value that keeps its current shape. The results show that to avoid structural failure the internal core requires a cohesive strength of at least 75-85 Pa. It suggests that for the failure mode of this body, the internal core first fails structurally, followed by the surface region. This implies that if cohesion is constant over the whole volume, the equatorial ridge of 1950 DA results from a material flow going outward along the equatorial plane in the internal core, but not from a landslide as has been hypothesized. This has additional implications for the likely density of the interior of the body.

An oestrogen-induced secretory protein from mouse uterine luminal fluid was purified by CM-Affi-Gel Blue chromatography and reverse-phase h.p.l.c. This protein has an apparent molecular mass of approx. 70 kDa both by SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (with or without 2-mercaptoethanol) and by gel-filtration column chromatography, indicating that it exists as a single-chain polypeptide. Further analysis of the protein revealed that it is highly basic (pI greater than or equal to 10) and is a glycoprotein. The N-terminus appears to be blocked to Edman degradation. The partial amino acid sequence of a fragment was obtained by cleavage with CNBr; no sequence homology was apparent between the analysed fragment and other known sequences. The incorporation of [35S]methionine into uterine proteins in vitro revealed that oestrogen treatment of immature mice stimulates both synthesis and secretion of the 70 kDa protein. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with polyclonal antibody was used to determine the tissue distribution of the protein. Tissues such as lung, brain, spleen, muscle, intestine, liver, kidney and ovary of oestrogen-treated mice did not have detectable amounts of the 70 kDa protein. Immunoreactivity was present in uterine and vaginal tissues from oestrogen-treated animals. The 70 kDa protein was not induced by testosterone or progesterone. Although the function of this protein is unknown, it is useful as a marker for the study of oestrogen action in the mammalian uterus as well as regulation of gene expression at the molecular level. Images Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 6. PMID:3814091

The handedness of Leonardo da Vinci is controversial. Although there is little doubt that many of his well-attributed drawings were drawn with the left hand, the hatch marks of the shading going downwards from left to right, it is not clear that he was a natural left-hander, there being some suggestion that he may have become left-handed as the…

The [123I]ioflupane—a dopamine transporter radioligand—SPECT (DaT-SPECT) has proven to be useful in the differential diagnosis of tremor. Here, we investigate the diagnoses behind patients with hard-to-classify tremor and normal DaT-SPECT. Therefore, 30 patients with tremor and normal DaT-SPECT were followed up for 2 years. In 18 cases we were able to make a diagnosis. The residual 12 patients underwent a second DaT-SPECT, were then followed for additional 12 months and thereafter the diagnosis was reconsidered again. The final diagnoses included cases of essential tremor, dystonic tremor, multisystem atrophy, vascular parkinsonism, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, fragile X–associated tremor ataxia syndrome, psychogenic parkinsonism, iatrogenic parkinsonism and Parkinson's disease. However, for 6 patients the diagnosis remained uncertain. Larger series are needed to better establish the relative frequency of the different conditions behind these cases. PMID:24744729

We report the first known example of a fully robotic aortobifemoral graft and aortic endarterectomy using the daVinci Surgical System and a unique method for graft delivery using the Endo-Vein Harvester. PMID:18657387

The [(123)I]ioflupane-a dopamine transporter radioligand-SPECT (DaT-SPECT) has proven to be useful in the differential diagnosis of tremor. Here, we investigate the diagnoses behind patients with hard-to-classify tremor and normal DaT-SPECT. Therefore, 30 patients with tremor and normal DaT-SPECT were followed up for 2 years. In 18 cases we were able to make a diagnosis. The residual 12 patients underwent a second DaT-SPECT, were then followed for additional 12 months and thereafter the diagnosis was reconsidered again. The final diagnoses included cases of essential tremor, dystonic tremor, multisystem atrophy, vascular parkinsonism, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, fragile X-associated tremor ataxia syndrome, psychogenic parkinsonism, iatrogenic parkinsonism and Parkinson's disease. However, for 6 patients the diagnosis remained uncertain. Larger series are needed to better establish the relative frequency of the different conditions behind these cases. PMID:24744729

A novel engraving machine (NUT-1A) is presented, in which fully digital controlled AC system based on DEC4DA was used to improve the machining precision and sensitivity. This engraving machine was constructed around AC servo motor with encoder, controlled by a servo motor control card - DEC4DA. As the upper unit of AC servo motor, DEC4DA was a numerical control generator, which received pulses form CPU by ISA bus, and these pulses were amplified and converted to drive AC servo actuator. This novel engraving machine can achieve a higher positioning accuracy of +/-0.01mm and positioning repetition of +/-0.005mm, and its resolution is 0.001mm/0.0001mm. Moreover, because of multi-closed loops were used in the system, the steady and transient performances are more excellent. This system ensures a much quicker current regulation in closed-loop operation, of acceleration and braking in both directions, as well as stable speed characteristics. Amplifier boards are protected against excessive current, excessive temperature and short circuiting of the motor supply cables.

The distribution of calmodulin-binding polypeptides in various rat liver subcellular fractions was investigated. Plasma-membrane, endosome, Golgi and lysosome fractions were prepared by established procedures. The calmodulin-binding polypeptides present in the subcellular fractions were identified by using an overlay technique after transfer from gels to nitrocellulose sheets. Distinctive populations of calmodulin-binding polypeptides were present in all the fractions examined except lysosomes. A major 115 kDa calmodulin-binding polypeptide of pI 4.3 was located to the endosome subfractions, and it emerges as a candidate endosome-specific protein. Partitioning of endosome fractions between aqueous and Triton X-114 phases indicated that the calmodulin-binding polypeptide was hydrophobic. Major calmodulin-binding polypeptides of 140 and 240 kDa and minor polypeptides of 40-60 kDa were present in plasma membranes. The distribution of calmodulin in the various endosome and plasma-membrane fractions was also analysed, and the results indicated that the amounts were high compared with those in the cytosol. Images Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. PMID:3214436

Psychologists interviewed direct-care staff using a battery of assessment measures including the autism spectrum disorders-diagnosis for intellectually disabled adults (ASD-DA), the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II (DASH-II), the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Individuals with Severe Retardation (MESSIER), the Socialization domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS), and a checklist containing criteria for autism and PDD-NOS from the DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10. Three hundred and seven intellectually disabled (ID) adolescents and adults ranging in age from 16 to 88 were assessed. Participants were diagnosed with either ID and ASD (autism or PDD-NOS; n=156) or ID and no Axis I diagnosis (n=151). A modification of the multitrait-multimethod approach was used to establish the convergent and discriminant validity of the ASD-DA. The scale proved to have robust convergent validity when correlated with the DSM-IV-TR/ICD-10 checklist, MESSIER, and Socialization domain of the VABS. Additionally, discriminant validity was demonstrated by comparing the ASD-DA to items from the DASH-II (measure of general psychopathology). The implications of these data are discussed. PMID:17981435

The Planalto da Serra igneous rocks form plugs, necks and dykes of carbonate-rich ultramafic lamprophyres (aillikites and glimmerites with kamafugitic affinity) and carbonatites (alvikites and beforsites). Phlogopite and/or tetraphlogopite, diopside and melanitic garnet are restricted to aillikitic rock-types, whereas pyroclore occurs only in carbonatites. Aillikites and carbonatites are altered to hydrotermalites, having chlorite and serpentine as dominant minerals. Planalto da Serra igneous rock association has kamafugitic affinity (i.e. effusive, ultrapotassic. High LREE/HREE fractionation, incompatible elements data and Sr-Nd isotopes, suggest that the K-ultramafic alkaline and carbonatite rocks originated from a variably metasomatized mantle source enriched in radiogenic Sr. Crustal contamination is negligible or absent. Age values of 600 Ma rule out the geochronological relationship between the investigated intrusions and the Mesozoic alkaline bodies from the Azimuth 125° lineament. The TDM model ages allow to conclude that Planalto da Serra magma is derived from the partial melting of a mantle source metasomatised by K-rich carbonatated melt during the Early to Late Neoproterozoic. On the basis of alkaline magmatism repetitions at 600 Ma and 90-80 Ma we question the subsistence of a stationary mantle plume for so long time.

The goal of this cadaver study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of da Vinci robot-assisted keyhole neurosurgery. Several keyhole craniotomies were fashioned including supraorbital subfrontal, retrosigmoid and supracerebellar infratentorial. In each case, a simple durotomy was performed, and the flap was retracted. The da Vinci surgical system was then used to perform arachnoid dissection towards the deep-seated intracranial cisterns. It was not possible to simultaneously pass the 12-mm endoscope and instruments through the keyhole craniotomy in any of the approaches performed, limiting visualization. The articulated instruments provided greater dexterity than existing tools, but the instrument arms could not be placed in parallel through the keyhole craniotomy and, therefore, could not be advanced to the deep cisterns without significant clashing. The da Vinci console offered considerable ergonomic advantages over the existing operating room arrangement, allowing the operating surgeon to remain non-sterile and seated comfortably throughout the procedure. However, the lack of haptic feedback was a notable limitation. In conclusion, while robotic platforms have the potential to greatly enhance the performance of transcranial approaches, there is strong justification for research into next-generation robots, better suited to keyhole neurosurgery. PMID:25516094

We review at length the longstanding problem in the spectroscopic analysis of cool hydrogen-line (DA) white dwarfs (T eff< 13,000 K) where gravities are significantly higher than those found in hotter DA stars. The first solution that has been proposed for this problem is a mild and systematic helium contamination from convective mixing that would mimic the high gravities. We constrain this scenario by determining the helium abundances in six cool DA white dwarfs using high-resolution spectra from the Keck I 10 m telescope. We obtain no detections, with upper limits as low as He/H = 0.04 in some cases. This allows us to put this scenario to rest for good. We also extend our model grid to lower temperatures using improved Stark profiles with non-ideal gas effects from Tremblay & Bergeron and find that the gravity distribution of cool objects remains suspiciously high. Finally, we find that photometric masses are, on average, in agreement with expected values, and that the high-log g problem is so far unique to the spectroscopic approach.

We review at length the longstanding problem in the spectroscopic analysis of cool hydrogen-line (DA) white dwarfs (T{sub eff}< 13,000 K) where gravities are significantly higher than those found in hotter DA stars. The first solution that has been proposed for this problem is a mild and systematic helium contamination from convective mixing that would mimic the high gravities. We constrain this scenario by determining the helium abundances in six cool DA white dwarfs using high-resolution spectra from the Keck I 10 m telescope. We obtain no detections, with upper limits as low as He/H = 0.04 in some cases. This allows us to put this scenario to rest for good. We also extend our model grid to lower temperatures using improved Stark profiles with non-ideal gas effects from Tremblay and Bergeron and find that the gravity distribution of cool objects remains suspiciously high. Finally, we find that photometric masses are, on average, in agreement with expected values, and that the high-log g problem is so far unique to the spectroscopic approach.

Low molecular weight components of shark cartilage are reported to have anti-tumor as well as immuno-stimulating effects. Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that have a key role in establishment of anti-cancer immune response. In this study, the effect of 14 kDa protein from shark cartilage was investigated on stimulation and maturation of dendritic cells. The isolated 14 kDa protein from shark cartilage extract was added to DCs medium during overnight culture and their maturation and T cells stimulation potential was investigated. The majority of shark-cartilage-treated DCs expressed higher levels of maturation markers and were more effective in stimulation of allogenic T cells compared with non-treated DCs (p Da protein can potentially be used in DC-mediated T-cells stimulation and induction of desirable immune responses in clinical trials such as cancer immunotherapy. However, further studies are required to examine this proposal. PMID:25669314

This article describes a free and open-source data analysis utility designed for fast online feedback during serial X-ray diffraction and scattering experiments: OnDA (online data analysis). Three complete real-time monitors for common types of serial X-ray imaging experiments are presented. These monitors are capable of providing the essential information required for quick decision making in the face of extreme rates of data collection. In addition, a set of modules, functions and algorithms that allow developers to modify the provided monitors or develop new ones are provided. The emphasis here is on simple, modular and scalable code that is based on open-source libraries and protocols. OnDA monitors have already proven to be invaluable tools in several experiments, especially for scoring and monitoring of diffraction data during serial crystallography experiments at both free-electron laser and synchrotron facilities. It is felt that in the future the kind of fast feedback that OnDA monitors provide will help researchers to deal with the expected very high throughput data flow at next-generation facilities such as the European X-ray free-electron laser. PMID:27275150

Confluent monolayers of microvascular endothelial cells, derived from the rat epididymal fat pad and grown in culture, were radioiodinated by using the lactoper-oxidase method. Their radioiodinated surface polypeptides were detected by NaDodSO4/PAGE (followed by autoradiography) and were characterized by both lectin affinity chromatography and protease digestion to identify the proteins involved in albumin binding. All detected polypeptides were sensitive to Pronase digestion, whereas several polypeptides were resistant to trypsin. Pronase treatment of the cell monolayer significantly reduced the specific binding of radioiodinated rat serum albumin, but trypsin digestion did not. Limax flavus, Ricinus communis, and Triticum vulgaris agglutinins competed significantly with radioiodinated rat serum albumin binding, whereas other lectins did not. A single 60-kDa glyco-protein was precipitated in common by these three lectins and was trypsin-resistant and Pronase-sensitive. Rat serum albumin affinity chromatography columns weakly but specifically bound a 60-kDa polypeptide from cell lysates derived from radioiodinated cell monolayers. These findings indicate that the 60-kDa glycoprotein is directly involved in a specific interaction of albumin with the cultured microvascular endothelial cells used in these experiments. Images PMID:3413125

... 32 National Defense 3 2011-07-01 2009-07-01 true Agreement for Loan of US Army Materiel (DA Form... ARMY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT LOAN OF ARMY MATERIEL Pt. 623, App. C Appendix C to Part 623—Agreement for Loan of US Army Materiel (DA Form 4881-R) EC24OC91.013 EC24OC91.014 EC24OC91.015 EC24OC91.016...

... 32 National Defense 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Agreement for Loan of US Army Materiel (DA Form... ARMY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT LOAN OF ARMY MATERIEL Pt. 623, App. C Appendix C to Part 623—Agreement for Loan of US Army Materiel (DA Form 4881-R) EC24OC91.013 EC24OC91.014 EC24OC91.015 EC24OC91.016...

Garlic is used all over the world for treatment of different diseases. A wide range of biological activities of garlic has been verified in vitro and in vivo. One of major proteins of garlic which has been isolated and purified is the 14 kDa protein. This protein has been shown to have immunomodulatory effects. In this study, the effect of the 14 kDa protein isolated from aged garlic extract (AGE) was investigated on maturation and immunomodulatory activity of dendritic cells (DC). Proteins were purified from AGE by biochemical method; the semi-purified 14 kDa protein was run on gel filtration Sephadex G50 and its purity was checked by SDS-PAGE. DC were isolated from spleen of BALB/c mice by Nycodenz centrifugation and their adhesiveness to plastic dish. 14 kDa protein from AGE was added to overnight culture of DC medium and the expression percentage of CD40, CD86, and MHC-II was evaluated by flowcytometric analysis. Also, proliferation of T-cells was measured by allogenic mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) test. The purified 14 kDa protein isolated from AGE increased the expression of CD40 molecule on DC, but it did not influence CD86 and MHCII molecules. Furthermore, no significant differences were noticed in the pulsed-DC with 14 kDa protein and non-pulsed DC on the MLR. PMID:21570063

Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai strain HD133, known by its effectiveness against Spodoptera species, produces many insecticidal proteins including Cry1Ab, Cry1Ca and Cry1Da. In the present study, the insecticidal activity of Cry1Da against Spodoptera littoralis was investigated. It showed toxicity with an LC(50) of 224.4 ng/cm(2) with 95% confidence limits of (178.61-270.19) and an LC(90) of 467.77 ng/cm(2) with 95% confidence limits of (392.89-542.65). The midgut histopathology of Cry1Da fed larvae showed vesicle formation in the apical region, vacuolization and destruction of epithelial cells. Biotinylated-activated Cry1Da toxin bound protein of about 65 kDa on blots of S. littoralis brush border membrane preparations. This putative receptor differs in molecular size from those recognized by Cry1C and Vip3A which are active against this polyphagous insect. This difference in midgut receptors strongly supports the use of Cry1Da as insecticidal agent, particularly in case of Cry and/or Vip-resistance management. PMID:23220238

We present an improved spectroscopic and photometric analysis of hydrogen-line DA white dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4 (SDSS DR4) based on model atmospheres that include improved Stark broadening profiles with non-ideal gas effects. We also perform a careful visual inspection of all spectroscopic fits with high signal-to-noise ratios (S/Ns > 12) and present improved atmospheric parameters (T{sub eff} and log g) for each white dwarf. Through a comparison of spectroscopic and photometric temperatures, we report the discovery of 35 DA+DB/DC double degenerate candidates and two helium-rich DA stars. We also determine that a cutoff at S/N = 15 optimizes the size and quality of the sample for computing the mean mass of DA white dwarfs, for which we report a value of 0.613 M{sub sun}. We compare our results to previous analyses of the SDSS DR4 and find a good agreement if we account for the shift produced by the improved Stark profiles. Finally, the properties of DA white dwarfs in the SDSS are weighed against those of the Villanova White Dwarf Catalog sample of Gianninas et al. We find systematically lower masses (by about 3% on average), a difference that we trace back to the data reduction procedure of the SDSS. We conclude that a better understanding of these differences will be important to determine the absolute temperature scale and mean mass of DA white dwarfs.

USF is a helix-loop-helix transcription factor that, like Myc, recognizes the DNA binding motif CACGTG. Two different forms of USF, characterized by apparent molecular weights of 43,000 and 44,000, were originally identified in HeLa cells by biochemical analysis. Clones for the 43-kDa USF were first characterized, but only partial clones for the human 44-kDa USF (USF2, or FIP) have been reported. Here we describe a complete cDNA for the 44-kDa USF from murine cells. Analysis of this clone has revealed that the various USF family members are quite divergent in their N-terminal amino acid sequences, while a high degree of conservation characterizes their dimerization and DNA-binding domains. Interestingly, the 3' noncoding region of the 44-kDa USF cDNAs displayed an unusual degree of conservation between human and mouse. In vitro transcription/translation experiments indicated a possible role for this region in translation regulation. Alternative splicing forms of the 44-kDa USF messages exist in both mouse and human. Examination of the tissue and cell-type distribution of USF by Northern blot and gel retardation assays revealed that while expression of both the 43- and 44-kDa USF species is ubiquitous, different ratios of USF homo- and heterodimers are found in different cells. Images PMID:8127680

Cleavage stimulation factor is one of the multiple factors required for 3'-end cleavage of mammalian pre-mRNAs. We have shown previously that this factor is composed of three subunits with estimated molecular masses of 77, 64, and 50 kDa and that the 64-kDa subunit can be UV-crosslinked to RNA in a polyadenylylation signal (AAUAAA)-dependent manner. We have now isolated cDNAs encoding the 64-kDa subunit of human cleavage stimulation factor. The 64-kDa subunit contains a ribonucleoprotein-type RNA binding domain in the N-terminal region and a repeat structure in the C-terminal region in which a pentapeptide sequence (consensus MEARA/G) is repeated 12 times and the formation of a long alpha-helix stabilized by salt bridges is predicted. An approximately 270-amino acid segment surrounding this repeat structure is highly enriched in proline and glycine residues (approximately 20% for each). When cloned 64-kDa subunit was expressed in Escherichia coli, an N-terminal fragment containing the RNA binding domain bound to RNAs in a polyadenylylation-signal-independent manner, suggesting that the RNA binding domain is directly involved in the binding of the 64-kDa subunit to pre-mRNAs. Images PMID:1741396

The TGACGTCA (CRE) motif required for function by a number of cellular (somatostatin, enkephalin, alpha-human chorionic gonadotropin) and viral (Ad5 E1A-inducible, HTLV-1 TAX-inducible) genes is the site of interaction of multiple sequence-specific complexes. A protocol has been developed for the fractionation and purification of these activities. We report here the purification from HeLa nuclear extracts of a novel 120-kDa polypeptide which by Southwestern blots, gel retardation, and UV cross-linking assays displays CRE-specific binding. The CRE-affinity purified 120-kDa protein displays properties distinct from those of the 43-kDa CREB/ATF polypeptide. The 120-kDa protein is readily phosphorylated in vitro by protein kinase C but not by protein kinase A, suggesting that this molecule may mediate cellular signals distinct from the cAMP-responsive pathway. In vitro transcription-complementation assays utilizing the purified 120-kDa protein failed to transactivate the cAMP-responsive somatostatin promoter suggesting that the mode of action of this 120-kDa polypeptide may require an activation step distinct from the cAMP-signaling pathway.

Soft x-ray/EUV observations provide a sensitive means of probing the structure and composition of the atmospheres of hot hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarf stars. This is due to the fact that soft x-rays originate from hotter, deeper layers of the photosphere than do longer wavelengths. A primary aim of this research is to expand the sample of DA's observed with soft x-ray instrumentation through a search for serendipitous observations of catalogued hot DA white dwarfs in existing soft x-ray databases. The positional coincidences of 31 catalogued DA's (McCook and Sion 1987) were examined in Einstein IPC and EXOSAT LE fields. As a result, three soft x-ray sources have been identified corresponding to the white dwarfs (WD0631 + 107, WD1113 + 413 and WD0425 + 168) and a fourth source which is probably not due to photospheric thermal emission from the coincident white dwarf. The three detected DA's have relatively low effective temperatures (27,200 +/- 400 K, 26,200 +/- 1100 K and 24,000 +/- 500 K, respectively), as determined independently using complementary optical and UV spectroscopy. Applying these temperature constraints to the soft x-ray photometric data, the photospheres of these stars must be composed of effectively pure hydrogen (n(He)/n(H) less than 10 exp -5), although the hottest star, WD0631 + 107, can have trace levels of homogeneously mixed helium less than 10 exp -4.2. The analysis of the soft x-ray observations are supplemented with independent determinations of temperature, gravity, and V magnitude. The method of determination employed is to fit the well-sampled wings of the broad hydrogen absorption profiles with self-consistent model atmosphere predictions. Precise temperatures and gravities are obtained by fitting the observed profiles independently, then jointly determining a consistent solution for each object. In this effort, a ground-based observation program was established to obtain high quality spectra of the Balmer delta and gamma lines and in

Data Assimilation techniques are essential elements in state-of-the-art development of models and their optimization with data in the field of groundwater, surface water and soil systems. They are essential tools in calibration of complex modelling systems and improvement of model forecasts. The OpenDA is a new and generic open source data assimilation environment for application to a choice of physical process models, applied to case dependent domains. OpenDA was introduced recently when the developers of Costa, an open-source TU Delft project [http://www.costapse.org; Van Velzen and Verlaan; 2007] and those of the DATools from the former WL|Delft Hydraulics [El Serafy et al 2007; Weerts et al. 2009] decided to join forces. OpenDA makes use of a set of interfaces that describe the interaction between models, observations and data assimilation algorithms. It focuses on flexible applications in portable systems for modelling geophysical processes. It provides a generic interfacing protocol that allows combination of the implemented data assimilation techniques with, in principle, any time-stepping model duscribing a process(atmospheric processes, 3D circulation, 2D water level, sea surface temperature, soil systems, groundwater etc.). Presently, OpenDA features filtering techniques and calibration techniques. The presentation will give an overview of the OpenDA and the results of some of its practical applications. Application of data assimilation in portable operational forecasting systems—the DATools assimilation environment, El Serafy G.Y., H. Gerritsen, S. Hummel, A. H. Weerts, A.E. Mynett and M. Tanaka (2007), Journal of Ocean Dynamics, DOI 10.1007/s10236-007-0124-3, pp.485-499. COSTA a problem solving environment for data assimilation applied for hydrodynamical modelling, Van Velzen and Verlaan (2007), Meteorologische Zeitschrift, Volume 16, Number 6, December 2007 , pp. 777-793(17). Application of generic data assimilation tools (DATools) for flood

On UT 2013 February 15, the elongated 20x40 meter near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 made a close flyby of the Earth at a distance of approximately 27,000 km or 4 Earth-radii. This passage was inside the orbital distance of geosynchronous satellites and close to the Earth's Roche limit. This close encounter was unprecedented in our advance knowledge of the incoming trajectory, thereby allowing us to forge a detailed coordinated plan for observation and testing of physical models predicting tidal effects near our planet's Roche limit. Predicted outcomes of such close encounters include tidal disruption, changes in rotation state, and mass loss or mass redistribution due to seismic shaking. Each of these effects sensitively depend on how tidal energy is dissipated in the interior of the asteroid: a rubble pile will dissipate tidal energy differently than a solid or partially fractured monolith. The internal properties of asteroids in general and particularly those in the size range of 2012 DA14 are largely unknown. This encounter represents one of the first ever opportunities to observationally test models of the interior structure of small planetary bodies. We will present the results of a large multi-observatory campaign focused on 2012 DA14. This campaign includes data from shortly after discovery in 2012 and surrounding the close approach of the asteroid in February of 2013. These data were collected with over a dozen telescopes worldwide, ranging in aperture from 1m to 8m and include major facilities in Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel, Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico, and the Canary Islands. We will highlight the outcome of pre- and post-flyby visible-wavelength photometric and spectroscopic observations. This will include clear evidence that 2012 DA14 is now in a non-principal axis rotation state, requiring a multi-periodic tumbling model to fit its post-flyby rotational light curve. Such a complex rotation state is consistent with models for the

The Greek Database of Seismogenic Sources (GreDaSS) is a repository of geological, tectonic and active fault data for the Greek territory and its surroundings including sectors of western Anatolia, southern Bulgaria, FYR of Macedonia and Albania. The principal aim of this international project is to create a homogenized framework of all data relevant to the seismotectonics, and especially the seismic hazard assessment, of Greece and its surroundings as well as a common research platform for performing seismic hazard analyses, modelling and scenarios from specific seismogenic structures. GreDaSS represents an on-going project based on the results of decades of investigations by the GreDaSS Working Group* and by numerous other researchers working on the active tectonics of the broader Aegean Region. Members of the WG have contributed in several national and European projects like FAUST (Faults as a seismological tool, 1998-2000) and SHARE (Seismic Hazard and Armonization in Europe, 2009-2012). The database is continuously updated by the WG, with the aim of improving its completeness in terms of seismogenic sources analysed and included, but also of enriching and better defining all parametric and ancillary information on each source. Preliminary and partial versions of GreDaSS have been already presented at previous congresses (Pavlides et al., 2010; Caputo et al., 2012; Sboras et al., 2013), but at next EGU the whole area and the most recent version of the database will be displayed. *) the principal scientific contributors belonging to the GreDaSS WG are: Sboras. S., Chatzipetros A., Koukouvelas I., Michailidou A., Valkaniotis S., Tarabusi G. Caputo R., Chatzipetros A., Pavlides S. and Sboras S. (2012): Ann. Geophysics, 55(5), 859-894, doi: 10.4401/ag-5168 Pavlides S., Caputo R., Sboras S., Chatzipetros A., Papathanasiou G. & Valkaniotis S. (2010): Bull. Geol. Soc. Greece, 43(1), 486-494 Sboras S., Pavlides S., Caputo R., Chatzipetros A., Michailidou A

The 9 kDa calcium-binding protein, calbindin9kDa, was found to be soluble in 7% (v/v) perchloric acid. Calbindin9kDa was easily purified from rat duodenum in 1 day with perchloric acid precipitation followed by reverse-phase h.p.l.c. The yield was 21.4 +/- 2.3 nmol/g wet weight of tissue (mean +/- S.E.M.; n = 3) from normally fed 7-8-week-old rats (approx. 70% recovery). The purification was also effective with rabbit duodenum calbindin9kDa, but not with various other EF-hand calcium-binding proteins tested in the rat. Several criteria (h.p.l.c., u.v. spectrum, denaturing two-dimensional PAGE, N-terminal sequencing) indicated that the rat calbindin9kDa was purified to homogeneity and was not affected by proteolysis. High-affinity calcium-binding properties were retained and no evidence of isoforms or charge modification was observed. Residue 59, identified as Asn (not Asp as previously reported), was fully amidated. When adopted as a microassay with isocratic h.p.l.c., the perchloric acid procedure enabled rapid (less than 6 min) and direct (peptide bond absorbance) quantification of less than 1 pmol of calbindin9kDa. This new approach to purification and assay will be of particular utility for investigations of calbindin9kDa in previously intractable low-abundance sources (e.g. cultured cells). Images Figure 1 Figure 2 PMID:8392333

Background Granulysin is an antimicrobial and proinflammatory protein with several isoforms. While the 9 kDa isoform is a well described cytolytic molecule with pro-inflammatory activity, the functions of the 15 kDa isoform is less well understood. Recently it was shown that 15 kDa Granulysin can act as an alarmin that is able to activate monocytes and immature dendritic cells. Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) is a growth factor widely used in immunotherapy both for in vivo and ex vivo applications, especially for its proliferative effects. Methods We analyzed gene expression profiles of monocytes cultured with 15 kDa Granulysin or GM-CSF for 4, 12, 24 and 48 hours to unravel both similarities and differences between the effects of these stimulators. Results The analysis revealed a common signature induced by both factors at each time point, but over time, a more specific signature for each factor became evident. At all time points, 15 kDa Granulysin induced immune response, chemotaxis and cell adhesion genes. In addition, only 15 kDa Granulsyin induced the activation of pathways related to fundamental dendritic cell functions, such as co-stimulation of T-cell activation and Th1 development. GM-CSF specifically down-regulated genes related to cell cycle arrest and the immune response. More specifically, cytokine production, lymphocyte mediated immunity and humoral immune response were down-regulated at late time points. Conclusion This study provides important insights on the effects of a novel agent, 15 kDa granulysin, that holds promise for therapeutic applications aimed at the activation of the immune response. PMID:21501511

Research is needed to improve efficiency of phytoextraction of heavy metals from contaminated soils. A pot experiment was carried out to study the effects of plant growth regulators (PGRs) (diethyl aminoethyl hexanoate (C18H33NO8, DA-6) and gibberellic acid 3 (C19H22O6, GA3)) and/or EDTA on Cd extraction, subcellular distribution and chemical forms in Lolium perenne. The addition of EDTA or PGRs significantly enhanced Cd extraction efficiency (P<0.05), with the decreasing order of: 1 μM DA-6>10 μM DA-6>10 μM GA3>2.5 mmol kg(-1) EDTA>other treatments of PGR alone. PGRs+EDTA resulted in a further increase in Cd extraction efficiency, with EDTA+1 μM DA-6 being the most efficient. At the subcellular level, about 44-57% of Cd was soluble fraction, 18-44% in cell walls, and 12-25% in cellular organelles fraction. Chemical speciation analysis showed that 40-54% of Cd was NaCl extractable, 7-23% HAc extractable, followed by other fractions. EDTA increased the proportions of Cd in soluble and cellular organelles fraction, as well as the metal migration in shoot; therefore, the toxicity to plant increased and plant growth was inhibited. Conversely, PGRs fixed more Cd in cell walls and reduced Cd migration in shoot; thus, metal toxicity was reduced. In addition, PGRs promoted plant biomass growth significantly (P<0.05), with 1 μM DA-6 being the most effective. A combination of DA-6/GA3 with EDTA can alleviate the adverse effect of EDTA on plant growth, and the treatment of EDTA+1 μM DA-6 appears to be optimal for improving the remediation efficiency of L. perenne for Cd contaminated soil. PMID:24999226

Fetidins are 40-kDa and 45-kDa hemolytic and antibacterial glycoproteins present in the coelomic fluid of the earthworm Eisenia fetida andrei. By screening a cDNA library with a polyclonal antifetidin serum, we have cloned a cDNA that encoded the 40-kDa fetidin. The clone contains an insert of 1.44 kb encoding a protein of 34 kDa, which corresponds to the size of deglycosylated fetidins. The recombinant protein inhibits Bacillus megaterium growth. Restriction fragment polymorphisms were observed on Southern blots and correspond to a known protein polymorphism. The sequence of the cDNA contains a peroxidase signature and fetidins from earthworm coelomic fluid have peroxidase activity. The 40-kDa and 45-kDa fetidins therefore represent two related polymorphic defence factors in invertebrates. PMID:9219536

In this study we compute the structure and evolution of carbon-oxygen DA (hydrogen-rich envelope) white dwarf models by means of a detailed and updated evolutionary code. We consider models with masses from 0.5 to 1.0Msolar and we vary the hydrogen layer mass in the interval 10^-13<=M_H/M≮10^-4. In particular, we treat the energy transport by convection within the formalism of the full-spectrum turbulence theory, as given by the Canuto, Goldman & Mazzitelli (CGM) model. We explore the effect of various hydrogen layer masses on both the surface gravity and the hydrogen burning. Convective mixing at low luminosities is also considered. One of our main interests in this work has been to study the evolution of ZZ Ceti models, with the aim of comparing the CGM and mixing-length theory (MLT) predictions. In this connection, we find that the temperature profile given by the CGM model is markedly different from that of the ML1 and ML2 versions of the MLT. In addition, the evolving outer convection zone behaves differently in both theories. We have also computed approximate effective temperatures for the theoretical blue edge of the DA instability strip by using thermal time-scale arguments for our evolving DA models. In this context, we found that the CGM theory leads to blue edges that are cooler than the observed ones. However, because the determination of atmospheric parameters of ZZ Ceti stars is dependent on the assumed convection description in model atmosphere calculations, observed blue edges based on model atmospheres computed considering the CGM theory are required in order to perform a self-consistent comparison of our results with observations. Finally, detailed non-adiabatic pulsational computations of ZZ Ceti models considering the CGM convection would be necessary to place the results found in this paper on a firmer basis.

The aim of the study was to find out and to analyse the text by Vitruvius which inspired the famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci (circa 1490) kept in the Galleria dell'Accademia, in Venezia, Italy: the man inscribed in one circle and in one square. The book "de Architectura" by Vitruvius Marcus Pollio was printed several times since the Renaissance when both the roman architecture of antiquity and this text became very popular. From a French translation by Claude Perrault in 1864, it became easy to find a French translation with the original text in Latin (Paris, 2003, Les Belles Lettres, French text by Pierre Gros). The drawing by Leonardo da Vinci illustrates with great accuracy and fidelity the quotation of Vitruvius (with the exception of two of the 12 main relationships). The genius of Leonardo da Vinci was to keep only one trunk, head and neck for two pairs of limbs: scapular and pelvic; to make the circle tangent to the lower edge of the square; to adjust a few features of the quotation for the equilibrium of the whole figure; and of course to bring his incredible skill as a drawer (one of the best of his century). The drawing was made on a sheet of paper 344x245mm, in black ink which became dark brown with time; several lines complete the figure above and below; a short caption and a horizontal scale appear just under the drawing. The celebrity of the drawing, a symbol of the Renaissance, of the equilibrium of man and mankind, of the universality of the artists and intellectuals of the time (Humanism) made it iconic and it has been constantly reproduced and adapted especially for advertisement and logos, not only in the medical field. PMID:18951824

The (18 kDa) Translocator Protein (TSPO), was initially identified in 1977 as peripheral binding site for the benzodiazepine diazepam and named "Peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (PBR)". It is an evolutionarily well-conserved protein particularly located at the outer/inner mitochondrial membrane contact sites, in closely association with the 32 kDa voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) and the 30 kDa adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT), thus forming the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP). TSPO is ubiquitary expressed in peripheral tissues (steroid producing tissues, liver, heart, kidney, lung, immune system) and in lower levels in the central nervous system, where it is mainly located in glial cells, and in neurons. TSPO is involved in a variety of biological processes such as cholesterol transport, steroidogenesis, calcium homeostasis, lipid metabolism, mitochondrial oxidation, cell growth and differentiation, apoptosis induction, and regulation of immune functions. In the last decade, many studies have reported that TSPO basal expression is altered in a number of human pathologies, such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders (Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases), as well as in various forms of brain injury and inflammation and anxiety. Consequently, TSPO has not only been suggested as a promising drug target for a number of therapeutic applications (anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, immunomodulating, etc.), but also as valid diagnostic marker for related-disease state and progression, prompting the development of specific labelled ligands as powerful tools for imaging techniques. A number of structurally different classes of ligands have been reported, showing high affinity and selectivity towards TSPO. Indeed, most of these ligands have been designed starting from selective CBR ligands which were structurally modified in order to shift their affinity towards TSPO. Extensive structure-activity relationship studies were performed allowing to

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) has crucial roles in fatty acid metabolism and is an attractive target for drug discovery against diabetes, cancer and other diseases. Saccharomyces cerevisiae ACC (ScACC) is crucial for the production of very-long-chain fatty acids and the maintenance of the nuclear envelope. ACC contains biotin carboxylase (BC) and carboxyltransferase (CT) activities, and its biotin is linked covalently to the biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP). Most eukaryotic ACCs are 250-kilodalton (kDa), multi-domain enzymes and function as homodimers and higher oligomers. They contain a unique, 80-kDa central region that shares no homology with other proteins. Although the structures of the BC, CT and BCCP domains and other biotin-dependent carboxylase holoenzymes are known, there is currently no structural information on the ACC holoenzyme. Here we report the crystal structure of the full-length, 500-kDa holoenzyme dimer of ScACC. The structure is remarkably different from that of the other biotin-dependent carboxylases. The central region contains five domains and is important for positioning the BC and CT domains for catalysis. The structure unexpectedly reveals a dimer of the BC domain and extensive conformational differences compared to the structure of the BC domain alone, which is a monomer. These structural changes reveal why the BC domain alone is catalytically inactive and define the molecular mechanism for the inhibition of eukaryotic ACC by the natural product soraphen A and by phosphorylation of a Ser residue just before the BC domain core in mammalian ACC. The BC and CT active sites are separated by 80 Å, and the entire BCCP domain must translocate during catalysis. PMID:26458104

A customized quadrupole ion-trap mass spectrometer (QITMS) has been built to satisfy a need for a compact, rugged instrument for measuring small concentrations of hydrogen, helium, oxygen, and argon in a nitrogen atmosphere. This QITMS can also be used to perform quantitative analyses of other gases within its molecular-mass range, which is 2 to 50 daltons (Da). (More precisely, it can be used to perform quantitative analysis of gases that, when ionized, are characterized by m/Z ratios between 2 and 50, where m is the mass of an ion in daltons and Z is the number of fundamental electric charges on the ion.

The low-cycle, creep-fatigue characteristics of the advanced gas turbine disk alloy, AF2-1DA have been determined at 1400 F and are presented in terms of the method of strainrange partitioning (SRP). The mean stresses which develop in the PC and CP type SRP cycles at the lowest inelastic strainrange were observed to influence the cyclic lives to a greater extent than the creep effects and hence interfered with a conventional interpretation of the results by SRP. A procedure is proposed for dealing with the mean stress effects on life which is compatible with SRP.

The AMADEUS experiment at the Da{Phi}ne accelerator of the Frascati National Laboratories (Italy) of INFN, will perform, for the first time, full-acceptance studies of antikaon interaction in light nuclei, with a complete experimental program for the case of the kaonic clusters. Studying the absorption of antikaon by the nucleus will provide information concerning the K-barN interaction and the modification of the kaon mass in the nuclear medium.A preliminar study of these kind of hadronic interactions is being done by the AMADEUS collaboration by analyzing the existent KLOE data.

Tristan da Cunha Island is one of the classical hot spots in the Atlantic Ocean, situated at the western end of the aseismic Walvis Ridge which forms a connection to the Cretaceous Etendeka flood basalt province in northwestern Namibia. The discussion about its source (in shallow asthenosphere or deeper mantle) have not reached consensus yet because of lack of the geophysical observations in the area. A marine magnetotelluric (MT) experiment was conducted together with seismological observations in the area in 2012-2013 through a German-Japanese collaboration with the goal to constrain the physical state of the mantle beneath the area. A total of 26 MT seafloor stations were deployed around the Tristan da Cunha Islands and available data were retrieved and processed from 24 stations. We applied iterative topographic effect correction and one-dimensional (1-D) conductivity structure inversion to the data. Then, three-dimensional (3-D) inversion analysis incorporating the topographic effect was carried out, using the 1-D model as the initial model. The local small-scale topography and the far continental coast effects are incorporated as the distortion term in the 3-D inversion. The preliminary result of our analysis shows no evidence of a significant conductive anomaly arising from the mantle transition zone, suggesting that the current magmatic source (major place of melting) of the hotspot activity is in the shallow upper mantle. This is in contrast to results from geochemical analysis, in which samples along the Tristan track exhibit an ocean-island-basalt-type incompatible element pattern pointing to a deep mantle source of the melt. Our findings therefore might indicate that the deep mantle up-welling underneath Tristan da Cunha Islands may be almost dead. A conductive anomaly at approx. 100 km depth in our derived conductivity model to the southwest of Tristan da Cunha Islands suggests an interaction between the mid-ocean ridge and/or up-welling further south

Ongoing excavations in the Middle Paleolithic levels at the Gruta da Oliveira, Portugal have yielded four fragmentary human remains, a manual phalanx and an ulna from levels 9 and 10, and a humerus and a tibia from levels 18 and 19. The first two remains date to approximately 39 ka 14C BP ( approximately 43.5 ka cal BP), whereas the latter two derive from earlier in oxygen isotope stage 3. The preserved portions of the phalanx, humerus, and tibia align them morphologically with the Neandertals. In addition, the Oliveira 4 tibial diaphysis shows evidence of carnivore (probably canid) gnawing. PMID:17632802

Yongle's Great Canon is a series of books to be read exclusively by the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, so all of the books included are from many rare books collected in Wen Yuan Ge of early Ming Dynasty. These rare books, ranging from Song, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties or from folk sources preserve the original appearance of the ancient books almost without any changes. From a philological viewpoint, the gynecological books included in Yong le da dian are studied, proof-read and checked for its lost texts and different texts. This can serve as a basis for the reprinting and re-publishing of ancient TCM books. PMID:21122346

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) will perform a high sensitivity EUV all-sky survey. A major category of sources which will be detected with the EUVE instruments consists of hot white dwarfs. Detailed preliminary studies of synthetic EUV observations of white dwarfs have been carried out using the predicted EUVE instrumental response functions. Using available information regarding space densities of white dwarfs and the distribution of neutral hydrogen in the interstellar medium, the numbers of DA white dwarfs which will be detectable in the different EUV bandpasses have been estimated.

Background The allosteric respiratory protein hemocyanin occurs in gastropods as tubular di-, tri- and multimers of a 35 × 18 nm, ring-like decamer with a collar complex at one opening. The decamer comprises five subunit dimers. The subunit, a 400 kDa polypeptide, is a concatenation of eight paralogous functional units. Their exact topology within the quaternary structure has recently been solved by 3D electron microscopy, providing a molecular model of an entire didecamer (two conjoined decamers). Here we study keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH2) tridecamers to unravel the exact association mode of the third decamer. Moreover, we introduce and describe a more complex type of hemocyanin tridecamer discovered in fresh/brackish-water cerithioid snails (Leptoxis, Melanoides, Terebralia). Results The "typical" KLH2 tridecamer is partially hollow, whereas the cerithioid tridecamer is almost completely filled with material; it was therefore termed "mega-hemocyanin". In both types, the staggering angle between adjoining decamers is 36°. The cerithioid tridecamer comprises two typical decamers based on the canonical 400 kDa subunit, flanking a central "mega-decamer" composed of ten unique ~550 kDa subunits. The additional ~150 kDa per subunit substantially enlarge the internal collar complex. Preliminary oxygen binding measurements indicate a moderate hemocyanin oxygen affinity in Leptoxis (p50 ~9 mmHg), and a very high affinity in Melanoides (~3 mmHg) and Terebralia (~2 mmHg). Species-specific and individual variation in the proportions of the two subunit types was also observed, leading to differences in the oligomeric states found in the hemolymph. Conclusions In cerithioid hemocyanin tridecamers ("mega-hemocyanin") the collar complex of the central decamer is substantially enlarged and modified. The preliminary O2 binding curves indicate that there are species-specific functional differences in the cerithioid mega-hemocyanins which might reflect different physiological

The works of physician and naturalist Emílio Joaquim da Silva Maia (1808-59) can be viewed as a scientific project that discovers Brazil and its inhabitants. Maia's nationalism and his romantic view of nature formed the underpinnings of his scientific theories, especially his studies on zoological geography. He subordinated the issue of the biological specificity of different regions of the world to his era's debates on the construction of Brazil as an independent nation. In his interpretations of European natural history, Maia endeavored to understand Brazilian nature as a specific achievement of the Cosmos, in keeping with Alexander von Humboldt's approach. PMID:16676427

Ultraviolet spectroscopic observations of two relatively cool DA white dwarfs, L481 - 60 (= WD 1544 - 37) and BPM 1266 ( = WD 2105 - 82), with the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite show a strong drop in their spectral energy distributions below 1600 A. Published model atmospheres and thier visual spectra suggest that these two stars have effective temperatures in the vicinity of 9,000-10,000 K, and it is proposed that the 1600 A feature could be due to the 342(1S) 3s2(1S) photoionization edge of Mg I.

Madonna dei Fusi (`Madonna of the Yarnwider') is a spectacular example of Italian Renaissance painting, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The aim of this study is to give an account of past restoration procedures. The evidence of a former retouching campaign will be presented with cross-sectional images obtained non-invasively with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Specifically, the locations of overpaintings/retouchings with respect to the original paint layer and secondary varnishes will be given. Additionally, the evidence of a former transfer of the pictorial layer to the new canvas support by detecting the presence of its structure incised into paint layer will be shown.

In the Campi Flegrei area of Campania, a region of Southern Italy, some thermal baths still exist, known for the therapeutical properties of their waters. Utilized since remote ages for the treatment of a variety of pathologies. In "De Balneis Terrae Laboris", an Italian poet of the Middle Ages and scientist, Pietro Anzolino da Eboli, reports every detail about more than thirty different thermal sites in the Campi Flegrei, including all therapeutic effects of their waters. Based on Pietro's manuscript, we report in the current paper all the sites whose waters were - among other indications - also recommended for the treatment of some urinary diseases. PMID:15293539

Eales' disease is a perivasculitis that affects the peripheral retina of young adults and results in recurrent vitreous hemorrhage. Although increased oxidative stress and decreased antioxidant defense have been reported to be associated with Eales' disease, the exact cause for the disease and its pathogenesis are not known. Here is reported the identification, purification and characterization of a new protein from the serum and vitreous of patients with Eales' disease. This protein was purified using preparative electrophoresis and HPLC. The purified protein had a retention time of 9.2 min in RP HPLC. Its molecular weight as determined by gel permeation chromatography was 88 kDa hence, it was termed as 88 kDa protein. Alcian blue and Schiffs staining revealed 88 kDa protein to be a glycoprotein. Proteins purified from both serum and vitreous exhibited anti lipid peroxidation effect on erythrocyte when added during in vitro assay of thiobarbuteric acid reactive substances (TBARS). In addition to this property the protein also has Fe(2+)sequestering effect. The anti TBARS activity of 88 kDa protein was completely inhibited by 0.1 m M concentration of parachlromercuric benzoate (PCMB) and 5,5' dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) DTNB. The total thiol content (cysteine) of the purified 88 kDa protein was found to be 8% by mass. Eighty eight kDa protein from both the sources namely vitreous and serum are immunologically identical when studied using polyclonal antibodies raised in goat against purified serum protein. The N terminal sequence of 88 kDa protein by automated Edman's degradation chemistry is A D D P N S L S P S A F A E A L A L L R D S X L A R F V. The protein and DNA data base search revealed no match to 88 kDa protein and hence this was considered as unique protein. Further knowledge on the in vivo function of 88 kDa protein is very important to understand its role in the pathogenesis of Eales' disease. PMID:11825025

The aim of this study was to evaluate the proportion of non-22 kDa GH isoforms in relation to total GH concentration after a repeated GHRH stimulus in healthy subjects. We studied 25 normal volunteers (12 males and 13 females, mean age 13.1 years, range 6-35), who received two GHRH bolus (1.5 mug/kg body weight, i.v.) administered separately by an interval of 120 minutes. The proportion of non-22 kDa GH was determined by the 22 kDa GH exclusion assay (GHEA), which is based on immunomagnetic extraction of monomeric and dimeric 22 kDa GH from serum, and quantitation of non-22 kDa GH isoforms using a polyclonal GH assay. Samples were collected at baseline and at 15-30 min intervals up to 240 min for total GH concentration. Non-22 kDa GH isoforms were measured in samples where peak GH after GHRH was observed. Total GH peaked after the first GHRH bolus in all subjects (median 37.2 ng/ml; range: 10.4-94.6). According to GH response to the second GHRH stimulus, the study group was divided in "non-responders" (n=7; 28%), with GH peak levels lower than 10 ng/ml (median GH: 8.7 ng/ml; range 7.3-9.6) and "responders" (n=18; 72%), who showed a GH response greater than 10 ng/ml (median 17 ng/ml; range 10.1-47.0). The median proportion of non-22 kDa GH on the peak of GH secretion after the first GHRH administration was similar in both groups ("responders" median: 8.6%, range 7-10.9%; "non-responders" median: 8.7%, range 6.7-10.3%), independently of the type of response after the second GHRH. In contrast, the median proportion of non-22 kDa GH was greater at time of GH peak after the second GHRH bolus in the "non-responders" (median 11.4%; range 9.1-14.3%) in comparison with the "responders" (median 9.1%; range 6.7-11.9%; p=0.003). A significant negative correlation between the total GH secreted and the percentage of non-22 kDa isoforms was seen in the "non-responders" (p=0.003). These differences in GH response to repeated GHRH stimulation and in the pattern of GH isoforms at GH

Background The transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) is constitutively activated in a variety of human cancers, including gastric cancer. NF-κB inhibitors that selectively kill cancer cells are urgently needed for cancer treatment. Curcumin is a potent inhibitor of NF-κB activation. Unfortunately, the therapeutic potential of curcumin is limited by its relatively low potency and poor cellular bioavailability. In this study, we presented a novel NF-κB inhibitor named Da0324, a synthetic asymmetric mono-carbonyl analog of curcumin. The purpose of this study is to research the expression of NF-κB in gastric cancer and the antitumor activity and mechanism of Da0324 on human gastric cancer cells. Methods The expressions between gastric cancer tissues/cells and normal gastric tissues/cells of NF-κB were evaluated by Western blot. The inhibition viability of compounds on human gastric cancer cell lines SGC-7901, BGC-823, MGC-803, and normal gastric mucosa epithelial cell line GES-1 was assessed with the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Absorption spectrum method and high-performance liquid chromatography method detected the stability of the compound in vitro. The compound-induced changes of inducible NF-κB activation in the SGC-7901 and BGC-823 cells were examined by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence methods. The antitumor activity of compound was performed by clonogenic assay, matrigel invasion assay, flow cytometric analysis, Western blot analysis, and Hoechst 33258 staining assay. Results High levels of p65 were found in gastric cancer tissues and cells. Da0324 displayed higher growth inhibition against several types of gastric cancer cell lines and showed relatively low toxicity to GES-1. Moreover, Da0324 was more stable than curcumin in vitro. Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence methods showed that Da0324 blocked NF-κB activation. In addition, Da0324 significantly inhibited tumor proliferation

Although the control of organ size is a fundamental question in developmental biology, little is known about the genetic and molecular mechanisms that determine the final size of seeds in plants. We previously demonstrated that the ubiquitin receptor DA1 acts synergistically with the E3 ubiquitin ligases DA2 and ENHANCER1 OF DA1 (EOD1)/BIG BROTHER to restrict seed growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we describe UBIQUITIN-SPECIFIC PROTEASE15 (UBP15), encoded by SUPPRESSOR2 OF DA1 (SOD2), which acts maternally to regulate seed size by promoting cell proliferation in the integuments of ovules and developing seeds. The sod2/ubp15 mutants form small seeds, while overexpression of UBP15 increases seed size of wild-type plants. Genetic analyses indicate that UBP15 functions antagonistically in a common pathway with DA1 to influence seed size, but does so independently of DA2 and EOD1. Further results reveal that DA1 physically associates with UBP15 in vitro and in vivo and modulates the stability of UBP15. Therefore, our findings establish a genetic and molecular framework for the regulation of seed size by four ubiquitin-related proteins DA1, DA2, EOD1, and UBP15 and suggest that they are promising targets for increasing seed size in crops. PMID:24585836

AIM: To examine the effect of DA-9601, a new gastroprotective agent, on the vulnerability of ethanol-treated rat’s stomach to naproxen (NAP). METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with 1 mL of 50% ethanol twice a day for 5 d and then NAP (50 mg/kg) was administered. DA-9601 was administered 1 h before NAP. Four hours after NAP, the rats were killed to examine gross injury index (mm2), histologic change and to determine mucosal levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), glutathione (GSH) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). RESULTS: Pretreatment of ethanol significantly increased NAP-induced gastric lesions, as well as an increase in MDA and MPO. On the contrary, mucosal PGE2 and GSH contents were decreased dramatically by ethanol pretreatment, which were aggravated by NAP. DA-9601 significantly reduced NAP-induced gastric injury grossly and microscopically, regardless of pretreatment with ethanol. DA-9601 preserved, or rather, increased mucosal PGE2 and GSH in NAP-treated rats (P<0.05), with reduction in mucosal MDA and MPO levels. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that repeated alcohol consumption renders gastric mucosa more susceptible to NSAIDs though, at least in part, reduction of endogenous cytoprotectants including PGE2 and GSH, and increase in MPO activation, and that DA-9601, a new gastroprotectant, can reduce the increased vulnerability of ethanol consumers to NSAIDs-induced gastric damage via the mechanism in which PGE2 and GSH are involved. PMID:16437715

The potential application of Bdellovibrio-and-like organisms (BALOs) for the biocontrol of bacterial diseases has been widely recognized. However, no marine BALOs have been reported for Vibrio-related infections in penaeid shrimp. In the present study, the bacteriolytic ability of the marine Bacteriovorax strain DA5 against Vibrio alginolyticus zouA was examined by cocultivation and electron microscopy, and optimal lysis was observed at 30-35°C and 20-30‰ salinity along with a high multiplicity of infection. Then, we showed that experimentally infected Litopenaeus vannamei larvae exhibited significantly higher survival with incremental DA5 levels. Finally, variation in the bacterial counts and the bacterial community in larval rearing water was investigated after prophylactic application of DA5. The elimination effect of DA5 on vibrios was visible at early time points, whereas only a few non-dominant bacteria, rather than the predominant populations, were affected through analysis of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of the 16S rDNA V3 region. Accordingly, the prophylactic and therapeutic efficacies of DA5 on vibriosis associated with L. vannamei could markedly enhance larval survivability, and these results will facilitate the application of marine Bacteriovorax to control vibriosis in shrimp larviculture. PMID:25139659

Agarose and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis systems for the molecular mass-dependent separation of hyaluronan (HA) in the size range of approximately 5–500 kDa have been investigated. For agarose-based systems, the suitability of different agarose types, agarose concentrations, and buffers systems were determined. Using chemoenzymatically synthesized HA standards of low polydispersity, the molecular mass range was determined for each gel composition, over which the relationship between HA mobility and logarithm of the molecular mass was linear. Excellent linear calibration was obtained for HA molecular mass as low as approximately 9 kDa in agarose gels. For higher resolution separation, and for extension to molecular masses as low as approximately 5 kDa, gradient polyacrylamide gels were superior. Densitometric scanning of stained gels allowed analysis of the range of molecular masses present in a sample, and calculation of weight-average and number-average values. The methods were validated for polydisperse HA samples with viscosity-average molecular masses of 112, 59, 37, and 22 kDa, at sample loads of 0.5 µg (for polyacrylamide) to 2.5 µg (for agarose). Use of the methods for electrophoretic mobility shift assays was demonstrated for binding of the HA-binding region of aggrecan (recombinant human aggrecan G1-IGD-G2 domains) to a 150 kDa HA standard. PMID:21684248

The migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) during neointima formation in atherosclerosis and angioplasty restenosis is mediated by certain growth factors and cytokines, one action of which may be to promote basement-membrane degradation. To test this hypothesis further, the effects of such growth factors and cytokines on the synthesis of two basement-membrane-degrading metalloproteinases, namely the 72 kDa gelatinase (MMP-2, gelatinase A) and the 95 kDa gelatinase (MMP-9, gelatinase B) and three tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) was studied in primary cultured rabbit aortic SMCs. Expression of the 95 kDa gelatinase was increased by phorbol myristate acetate, foetal calf serum, thrombin and interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha); platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) BB alone had no effect but acted synergistically with IL-1alpha. A selective protein kinase C inhibitor, Ro 31-8220, abolished induction of the 95 kDa gelatinase. In contrast, none of the agents tested modulated the synthesis of the 72 kDa gelatinase. We conclude that maximal up-regulation of 95 kDa gelatinase expression requires the concerted action of growth factors and inflammatory cytokines mediated, in part, by a protein kinase C-dependent pathway. TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were highly expressed, and their synthesis was not affected by growth factors or cytokines. Expression of TIMP-3 mRNAs was, however, increased by PDGF and transforming growth factor beta, especially in combination. Divergent regulation of gelatinase and TIMP expression implies that either net synthesis or net degradation of basement membrane can be mediated by appropriate combinations of growth factors and cytokines. PMID:8670128

The migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) during neointima formation in atherosclerosis and angioplasty restenosis is mediated by certain growth factors and cytokines, one action of which may be to promote basement-membrane degradation. To test this hypothesis further, the effects of such growth factors and cytokines on the synthesis of two basement-membrane-degrading metalloproteinases, namely the 72 kDa gelatinase (MMP-2, gelatinase A) and the 95 kDa gelatinase (MMP-9, gelatinase B) and three tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) was studied in primary cultured rabbit aortic SMCs. Expression of the 95 kDa gelatinase was increased by phorbol myristate acetate, foetal calf serum, thrombin and interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha); platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) BB alone had no effect but acted synergistically with IL-1alpha. A selective protein kinase C inhibitor, Ro 31-8220, abolished induction of the 95 kDa gelatinase. In contrast, none of the agents tested modulated the synthesis of the 72 kDa gelatinase. We conclude that maximal up-regulation of 95 kDa gelatinase expression requires the concerted action of growth factors and inflammatory cytokines mediated, in part, by a protein kinase C-dependent pathway. TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were highly expressed, and their synthesis was not affected by growth factors or cytokines. Expression of TIMP-3 mRNAs was, however, increased by PDGF and transforming growth factor beta, especially in combination. Divergent regulation of gelatinase and TIMP expression implies that either net synthesis or net degradation of basement membrane can be mediated by appropriate combinations of growth factors and cytokines. PMID:8670128

Previously, we identified the regions of chromosomes 10q12–q31 and 15p16–q21 harbor quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for lumbar volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) in female F2 rats derived from Fischer 344 (F344) × Lewis (LEW) and Copenhagen 2331 (COP) × Dark Agouti (DA) crosses. The purpose of this study is to identify the candidate genes within these QTL regions contributing to the variation in lumbar vBMD. RNA was extracted from bone tissue of F344, LEW, COP, and DA rats. Microarray analysis was performed using Affymetrix Rat Genome 230 2.0 Arrays. Genes differentially expressed among the rat strains were then ranked based on the strength of the correlation with lumbar vBMD in F2 animals derived from these rats. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis was performed to confirm the prioritized candidate genes. A total of 285 genes were differentially expressed among all strains of rats with a false discovery rate less than 10%. Among these genes, 18 candidate genes were prioritized based on their strong correlation (r2 > 0.90) with lumbar vBMD. Of these, 14 genes (Akap1, Asgr2, Esd, Fam101b, Irf1, Lcp1, Ltc4s, Mdp-1, Pdhb, Plxdc1, Rabep1, Rhot1, Slc2a4, Xpo4) were confirmed by qPCR. We identified several novel candidate genes influencing spinal vBMD in rats. PMID:19841953

Pig heart tissue have been shown to contain 3 different 60,000 Da phosphoproteins. Different purification procedures were used in order to separate them, suggesting that the 3 phosphoproteins differ in their environmental parameters. The 2 major ones appear essentially as peripheral phosphoproteins that are associated with cellular membranes through ionic forces, whereas the third minor phosphoprotein behaves as an integral plasma membrane protein. The three phosphoproteins also differ in their relative amount of phosphorylated serine, threonine and tyrosine residues after in vitro protein kinase assay. Evidence that the 3 phosphoproteins are related arises from the similarity between their respective phosphopeptide maps after partial hydrolysis with proteases, an experiment that also points out relatedness in primary structure between them and the transforming protein of Rous sarcoma virus, pp60v-src. The 3 phosphoproteins, however, do not appear to be immunologically related to pp60v-src since none of them is immunoprecipitated by sera that precipitate pp60v-src. The possibility that the three 60,000 Da phosphoproteins under study represent 3 differentially localized and phosphorylated products of c-src and/or c-src related genes is discussed. PMID:2472841

The vast majority of microfluidic systems are molded in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) by soft lithography due to the favorable properties of PDMS: biocompatible, elastomeric, transparent, gas-permeable, inexpensive, and copyright-free. However, PDMS molding involves tedious manual labor, which makes PDMS devices prone to assembly failures and difficult to disseminate to research and clinical settings. Furthermore, the fabrication procedures limit the 3D complexity of the devices to layered designs. Stereolithography (SL), a form of 3D-printing, has recently attracted attention as a way to customize the fabrication of biomedical devices due to its automated, assembly-free 3D fabrication, rapidly decreasing costs, and fast-improving resolution and throughput. However, existing SL resins are not biocompatible and patterning transparent resins at high resolution remains difficult. Here we report procedures for the preparation and patterning of a transparent resin based on low-MW poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (MW 250) (PEG-DA-250). The 3D-printed devices are highly transparent and cells can be cultured on PEG-DA-250 prints for several days. This biocompatible SL resin and printing process solves some of the main drawbacks of 3D-printed microfluidic devices: biocompatibility and transparency. In addition, it should also enable the production of non-microfluidic biomedical devices. PMID:27217203

The PanDA Workload Management System is the basis for distributed production and analysis for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. In this role, it relies on sophisticated dynamic data movement facilities developed in ATLAS. In certain scenarios, such as small research teams in ATLAS Tier-3 sites and non-ATLAS Virtual Organizations, the overhead of installation and operation of these components makes their use not very cost effective. Globus Online is an emerging new tool from the Globus Alliance, which already proved popular within the research community. It provides the users with fast and robust file transfer capabilities that can also be managed from a Web interface, and in addition to grid sites, can have individual workstations and laptops serving as data transmission endpoints. We will describe the integration of the Globus Online functionality into the PanDA suite of software, in order to give more flexibility in choosing the method of data transfer to ATLAS Tier-3 and Open Science Grid (OSG) users.

Immunomodulatory oligodeoxynucleotides (IMODNs) are the short DNA sequences that activate the innate immune system via toll-like receptor 9. These sequences predominantly contain unmethylated CpG motifs. In this work, we describe VaccineDA (Vaccine DNA adjuvants), a web-based resource developed to design IMODN-based vaccine adjuvants. We collected and analyzed 2193 experimentally validated IMODNs obtained from the literature. Certain types of nucleotides (e.g., T, GT, TC, TT, CGT, TCG, TTT) are dominant in IMODNs. Based on these observations, we developed support vector machine-based models to predict IMODNs using various compositions. The developed models achieved the maximum Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) of 0.75 with an accuracy of 87.57% using the pentanucleotide composition. The integration of motif information further improved the performance of our model from the MCC of 0.75 to 0.77. Similarly, models were developed to predict palindromic IMODNs and attained a maximum MCC of 0.84 with the accuracy of 91.94%. These models were evaluated using a five-fold cross-validation technique as well as validated on an independent dataset. The models developed in this study were integrated into VaccineDA to provide a wide range of services that facilitate the design of DNA-based vaccine adjuvants (http://crdd.osdd.net/raghava/vaccineda/). PMID:26212482

Cleavage factor Im is an essential component of the pre-messenger RNA 3'-end processing machinery in higher eukaryotes, participating in both the polyadenylation and cleavage steps. Cleavage factor Im is an oligomer composed of a small 25 kDa subunit (CF Im25) and a variable larger subunit of either 59, 68 or 72 kDa. The small subunit also interacts with RNA, poly(A) polymerase, and the nuclear poly(A)-binding protein. These protein-protein interactions are thought to be facilitated by the Nudix domain of CF Im25, a hydrolase motif with a characteristic {alpha}/{beta}/{alpha} fold and a conserved catalytic sequence or Nudix box. We present here the crystal structures of human CF Im25 in its free and diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A) bound forms at 1.85 and 1.80 Angstroms, respectively. CF Im25 crystallizes as a dimer and presents the classical Nudix fold. Results from crystallographic and biochemical experiments suggest that CF Im25 makes use of its Nudix fold to bind but not hydrolyze ATP and Ap4A. The complex and apo protein structures provide insight into the active oligomeric state of CF Im and suggest a possible role of nucleotide binding in either the polyadenylation and/or cleavage steps of pre-messenger RNA 3'-end processing.

Leonardo Da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius were two important renaissance persons; Vesalius was a surgeon-anatomist who delivered innovative work on the study of the human body, Leonardo da Vinci was an artist who delivered strikingly accurate and beautiful drawings on the human body. Below we compare both masters with regard to their knowledge of the working of the muscles, their method and system of dissection and their system and presentation of the drawings. The investigation consisted of a comparison between both anatomists, in particular concerning their study on the shoulder girdle and spine, by reviewing their original work as well as already existing literature on this subject. The investigation led to the conclusion that the drawings mentioned meant a change in history, and were of high quality, centuries ahead of their time. Both were anatomists, both were revolutionary, only one changed history at the moment itself, while the other changed history centuries later. Leonardo has made beautiful drawings that are at a match with the drawings of today or are even better. Vesalius set the start for medicine as a science as it is until this day. Their lives differed as strongly as their impact. In the light of their time, the achievement they made was extraordinary. PMID:18807610

Human interaction environments (HIE) must be understood as any place where people carry out their daily life, including their work, family life, leisure and social life, interacting with technology to enhance or facilitate the experience. The integration of technology in these environments has been achieved in a disorderly and incompatible way, with devices operating in isolated islands with artificial edges delimited by the manufacturers. In this paper we are presenting the UniDA framework, an integral solution for the development of systems that require the integration and interoperation of devices and technologies in HIEs. It provides developers and installers with a uniform conceptual framework capable of modelling an HIE, together with a set of libraries, tools and devices to build distributed instrumentation networks with support for transparent integration of other technologies. A series of use case examples and a comparison to many of the existing technologies in the field has been included in order to show the benefits of using UniDA. PMID:22163700

Blood species identification is of great significance for blood supervision and wildlife investigations. The current methods used to identify the blood species are destructive. Near-Infrared spectroscopy method is known for its non-invasive properties. In this research, we combined Near-Infrared diffuse transmitted spectra and Partial Least Square Discrimination Analysis (PLS-DA) to identify three blood species, including macaque, human and mouse. Blind test and external test were used to assess the PLS-DA model. The model performed 100% accuracy in its identification between three blood species. This approach does not require a specific knowledge of biochemical features for each individual class but relies on a spectroscopic statistical differentiation of the whole components. This is the first time to demonstrate Near-Infrared diffuse transmitted spectra have the ability to identify the species of origin of blood samples. The results also support a good potential of absorption and scattering spectroscopy for species identification in practical applications for real-time detection.

The 67LR (67 kDa laminin receptor) enables cells to interact with components of the extracellular matrix. The molecule is derived from the 37LRP (37 kDa laminin receptor precursor); however, the precise molecular mechanism of this conversion is unknown. Recombinant 37LRP, expressed in and purified from Escherichia coli, bound to human laminin in a SPR (surface plasmon resonance) experiment. 67LR isolated from human breast-cancer-derived cells in culture was also shown to bind to laminin by SPR. However, the kinetics of association are qualitatively different. 37LRP, but not 67LR, binds to heparan sulfate. The binding of 37LRP to heparan sulfate did not affect the interaction of 37LRP with laminin. In contrast, heparan sulfate reduces the extent of binding of laminin to 67LR. Taken together, these results show that 37LRP has some of the biological activities of 67LR, even prior to the conversion event. However, the conversion affects the sites of interaction with both laminin and heparan sulfate. PMID:19691449

A portrait of uncertain origin recently came to light which, after extensive research and examination, was shown to be that rarest of things: a newly discovered Leonardo da Vinci painting entitled La Bella Principessa. This research presents a new illusion which is similar to that identified in the Mona Lisa; La Bella Principessa's mouth appears to change slant depending on both the Viewing Distance and the Level of Blur applied to a digital version of the portrait. Through a series of psychophysics experiments, it was found that a perceived change in the slant of the La Bella Principessa's mouth influences her expression of contentment thus generating an illusion that we have coined the "uncatchable smile". The elusive quality of the Mona Lisa's smile has been previously reported (Science, 290 (2000) 1299) and so the existence of a similar illusion in a portrait painted prior to the Mona Lisa becomes more interesting. The question remains whether Leonardo da Vinci intended this illusion. In any case, it can be argued that the ambiguity created adds to the portrait's allure. PMID:26049039

Gentile da Foligno was an influential professor and teacher of medicine at the Universities of Bologna, Padua, Siena and Perugia in the first part of the 14th century. He was one of the first physicians to perform human dissection. He authored many important texts and commentaries, among which is the Consilla, a collection of therapeutic advices for many diseases. He made a commentary on Carmina de urinarum iudiciis (Songs of urinary judgements) and to De pulsibus (About pulses) composed by Egidius Corbaliensis. This work is more than a commentary: it is a text attempting to conceptualise the physiology of urine formation. According to his writing, urine associated to the blood passes 'per poros euritides' (through the porous tubules) of the kidney and is then delivered to the bladder. Commenting and explaining the writing on De pulsibus, he stressed the importance of heart disease on modulating the colour and output of urine and the relationship between fast pulse rate and urine output. For the originality of his thought and for the conceptualization of the relationship between pulse rate and urine characteristic, Gentile da Foligno could be indicated as the 'first' cardionephrologist in the history of medicine. PMID:10213818

Synchrotron radiation is characterized by a very wide spectral emission from IR to X-ray wavelengths and a pulsed structure that is a function of the source time structure. In a storage ring, the typical temporal distance between two bunches, whose duration is a few hundreds of picoseconds, is on the nanosecond scale. Therefore, synchrotron radiation sources are a very powerful tools to perform time-resolved experiments that however need extremely fast detectors. Uncooled IR devices optimized for the mid-IR range with sub-nanosecond response time, are now available and can be used for fast detection of intense IR sources such as synchrotron radiation storage rings. We present here different measurements of the pulsed synchrotron radiation emission at DA{phi}NE (Double Annular {phi}-factory for Nice Experiments), the collider of the Laboratori Nazionali of Frascati (LNF) of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), performed with very fast uncooled infrared detectors with a time resolution of a few hundreds of picoseconds. We resolved the emission time structure of the electron bunches of the DA{phi}NE collider when it works in a normal condition for high energy physics experiments with both photovoltaic and photoconductive detectors. Such a technology should pave the way to new diagnostic methods in storage rings, monitoring also source instabilities and bunch dynamics.

Robotic surgery is the newst technologic option in urology. To understand how new robots work is interesting to know their history. The desire to design machines imitating humans continued for more than 4000 years. There are references to King-su Tse (clasic China) making up automaton at 500 a. C. Archytas of Tarentum (at around 400 a.C.) is considered the father of mechanical engineering, and one of the occidental robotics classic referents. Heron of Alexandria, Hsieh-Fec, Al-Jazari, Roger Bacon, Juanelo Turriano, Leonardo da Vinci, Vaucanson o von Kempelen were robot inventors in the middle age, renaissance and classicism. At the XIXth century, automaton production underwent a peak and all engineering branches suffered a great development. At 1942 Asimov published the three robotics laws, based on mechanics, electronics and informatics advances. At XXth century robots able to do very complex self governing works were developed, like da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical Inc, Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a very sophisticated robot to assist surgeons. PMID:17645084

For several years the PanDA Workload Management System has been the basis for distributed production and analysis for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Since the start of data taking PanDA usage has ramped up steadily, typically exceeding 500k completed jobs/day by June 2011. The associated monitoring data volume has been rising as well, to levels that present a new set of challenges in the areas of database scalability and monitoring system performance and efficiency. These challenges are being met with an R&D effort aimed at implementing a scalable and efficient monitoring data storage based on a noSQL solution (Cassandra). We present our motivations for using this technology, as well as data design and the techniques used for efficient indexing of the data. We also discuss the hardware requirements as they were determined by testing with actual data and realistic rate of queries. In conclusion, we present our experience with operating a Cassandra cluster over an extended period of time and with data load adequate for planned application.

This study provides a detailed description of food residue collection by swine breeders in Da Nang, Viet Nam. In January 2011, the study surveyed 30 swine breeders in two villages with respect to locations, methods, prices, quantities, and prospects for food residue collection. The sampled swine breeders regularly visited 55 locations in central Da Nang to collect raw food residue. They then transferred the food residue to their piggeries, boiled it, and fed it to their swine. A regression analysis revealed that the total amount of food residue collected by a farm depends on the number of swine in the farm and the number of collections made per day. Swine breeders in Da Nang were estimated to collect 26.3 metric tons of organic waste per day, which amounted to 4.1% of domestic waste collected by the local government. Among the sampled swine breeders, 93% answered that they would continue using food residue for the next five years. PMID:22883688

Pediococcus acidilactici ATCC 8042 is a lactic acid bacteria that inhibits pathogenic microorganisms such as Staphylococcus aureus through the production of two proteins with lytic activity, one of 110 kDa and the other of 99 kDa. The 99-kDa one has high homology to a putative peptidoglycan hydrolase (PGH) enzyme reported in the genome of P. acidilactici 7_4, where two different lytic domains have been identified but not characterized. The aim of this work was the biochemical characterization of the recombinant enzyme of 99 kDa. The enzyme was cloned and expressed successfully and retains its activity against Micrococcus lysodeikticus. It has a higher N-acetylglucosaminidase activity, but the N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase can also be detected spectrophotometrically. The protein was then purified using gel filtration chromatography. Antibacterial activity showed an optimal pH of 6.0 and was stable between 5.0 and 7.0. The optimal temperature for activity was 60 °C, and all activity was lost after 1 h of incubation at 70 °C. The number of strains susceptible to the recombinant 99-kDa enzyme was lower than that susceptible to the mixture of the 110- and 99-kDa PGHs of P. acidilactici, a result that suggests synergy between these two enzymes. This is the first PGH from LAB that has been shown to possess two lytic sites. The results of this study will aid in the design of new antibacterial agents from natural origin that can combat foodborne disease and improve hygienic practices in the industrial sector. PMID:25940238

A sunken soft-spot or fontanel is a sign for dehydration in infants. Around the world, folk illnesses, such as caída de la mollera in some Latin American cultures, often incorporate this sign as a hallmark of illness, but may or may not incorporate re-hydration therapies in treatment strategies. This report describes a study of lay descriptions of causes, symptoms, and treatments for caída de la mollera in three diverse Latin American populations. A mixed-methods approach was used. Representative community-based samples were interviewed in rural Guatemala, Guadalajara, Mexico, and Edinburgh, Texas, with a 132 item questionnaire on the causes, susceptibility, symptoms, and therapies for caída de la mollera. Cultural consensus analysis was used to estimate community beliefs about caída. Interviews conducted in rural Guatemala (n = 60), urban Mexico (n = 62), and rural Texas on the Mexican border (n = 61) indicated consistency in thematic elements within and among these three diverse communities. The high degree of consistency in the illness explanatory models indicated shared beliefs about caída de la mollera in each of the communities and a core model shared across communities. However, an important aspect of the community beliefs was that rehydration therapies were not widely endorsed. The consistency in explanatory models in such diverse communities, as well as the high degree of recognition and experience with this illness, may facilitate communication between community members, and health care providers/public health intervention planners to increase use of rehydration therapies for caída de la mollera. Recommendations for culturally informed and respectful approaches to clinical communication are provided. PMID:26239172

Initially we established that the binding of collagen to human blood platelets stimulates both the rapid loss of PIP2 and the generation of inositol-4,5-bisphosphate (IP2) and inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3). These results indicate that the binding of collagen stimulates inositol phospholipid-specific phospholipase C during platelet activation. The fact that GTP or GTP-gamma-S augments, and pertussis toxin inhibits, collagen-induced IP3 formation suggests that a GTP-binding protein or (or proteins) may be directly involved in the regulation of phospholipase C-mediated phosphoinositide turnover in human platelets. We have used several complementary techniques to isolate and characterize a platelet 41-kDa polypeptide (or polypeptides) that has a number of structural and functional similarities to the regulatory alpha i subunit of the GTP-binding proteins isolated from bovine brain. This 41-kDa polypeptide (or polypeptides) is found to be closely associated with at least four membrane glycoproteins (e.g., gp180, gp110, gp95, and gp75) in a 330-kDa complex that can be dissociated by treatment with high salt plus urea. Most important, we have demonstrated that antilymphoma 41-kDa (alpha i subunit of GTP-binding proteins) antibody cross-reacts with the platelet 41-kDa protein (or proteins) and the alpha i subunit of bovine brain Gi alpha proteins, and blocks GTP/collagen-induced IP3 formation. These data provide strong evidence that the 41-kDa platelet GTP-binding protein (or proteins) is directly involved in collagen-induced signal transduction during platelet activation.

The main objective of this dissertation was to purify the 30 kDa Cd-binding protein from rat testis cytosol (Cd-testin) in a form retaining 1 or more moles of Cd per mole of protein, following the addition of /sup 109/CdCl/sub 2/ to cytosol in amounts just sufficient to saturate the 30 kDa peak. Two successful procedures were developed based on (1) ammonium sulfate fractionation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and gel filtration; or (2) heat treatment (90/sup 0/C, 5 min) and gel filtration. Application of Method 1 to cytosol labeled with /sup 65/ZnCL/sub 2/ showed that Zn formed a complex analogous to Cd-testin. The Cd content (moles/mole protein) in two preparations of 30 kDa protein was 2.1 to 2.6 (Method 1); Method 2 gave more variable results (1.1 to 3.4). In neither case was a 30 kDa polypeptide detected by 20 SDS PAGE, but a major subunit (22 kDa/pl 4.6) was observed in both preparations, along with smaller subunits. Method 1 gave higher purity (3 spots) but lower yield (about 4% of cytosolic 30 kDa Cd) whereas Method 2 gave a much higher yield (about 45%) but somewhat lower purity based on 2D SDS PAGE. On the basis of these results, Cd-testin consists of subunits rather than a single polypeptide chain. It is concluded that rat testis contains novel proteins binding Cd or Zn, and can be isolated in forms that retain a high Cd content. The manner in which the Cd is bound, and the subunits involved, have not been determined.

Worker nodes on the grid exhibit great diversity, making it difficult to offer uniform processing resources. A pilot job architecture, which probes the environment on the remote worker node before pulling down a payload job, can help. Pilot jobs become smart wrappers, preparing an appropriate environment for job execution and providing logging and monitoring capabilities. PanDA (Production and Distributed Analysis), an ATLAS and OSG workload management system, follows this design. However, in the simplest (and most efficient) pilot submission approach of identical pilots carrying the same identifying grid proxy, end-user accounting by the site can only be done with application-level information (PanDA maintains its own end-user accounting), and end-user jobs run with the identity and privileges of the proxy carried by the pilots, which may be seen as a security risk. To address these issues, we have enabled PanDA to use gLExec, a tool provided by EGEE which runs payload jobs under an end-user's identity. End-user proxies are pre-staged in a credential caching service, MyProxy, and the information needed by the pilots to access them is stored in the PanDA DB. gLExec then extracts from the user's proxy the proper identity under which to run. We describe the deployment, installation, and configuration of gLExec, and how PanDA components have been augmented to use it. We describe how difficulties were overcome, and how security risks have been mitigated. Results are presented from OSG and EGEE Grid environments performing ATLAS analysis using PanDA and gLExec.

The natriuretic and diuretic effects of dopamine are attenuated in the young. Because dopamine has actions on receptors (e.g., adrenergic, serotonin) other than dopamine, we studied a novel dopamine agonist, pramipexole, which has a selectivity to both DA1 and DA2-receptor subtypes. Intravenous administration of pramipexole resulted in a dose-related (1, 10, and 100 micrograms.kg-1.min-1) increase in urine flow and absolute and fractional sodium excretion and a decrease in mean arterial pressure (MAP) in three groups of rats studied. Pramipexole induced a greater decrease in MAP in 6- to 7- (n = 5) and 9- to 16- (n = 6) than in 3- to 4-wk-old (n = 8) rats; the natriuresis and diuresis were greatest in 12- to 16- and least in 3- to 4-wk-old rats. The renal effects of pramipexole were mainly due to actions at the DA1 receptor, since these effects were completely blocked by the coinfusion of a DA1 antagonist, SKF 83742. To explore further a cause of the attenuated natriuretic effect of pramipexole in the young, we studied the effect of a selective DA1-receptor agonist, fenoldopam, on amiloride-sensitive 22Na+ uptake in renal brush-border membrane vesicles. The 3-s amiloride-sensitive uptake was inhibited (45%) by fenoldopam (5 x 10(-5)M) in 9- to 16- (n = 6) but not in 3- to 4-wk-old (n = 5) rats. These studies suggest that the attenuated natriuretic effect of dopamine in the young is in part due to decreased DA1 action on the brush-border membrane Na(+)-H+ exchanger. PMID:1357983

The Hopf-Ranãda linked and knotted light beam solution, which has been interpreted physically and extended analytically by Irvine and Bouwmeester recently, is viewed in this Letter as a null electromagnetic field. It is shown, in particular, that the Hopf-Ranãda solution is a variant of a luminal null electromagnetic wave due originally to Robinson and Troutman and reported by Bialynicki-Birula recently. This analogy is motivated by means of a method due to Whittaker and Bateman, and a relationship to well-known scalar luminal localized waves is examined. PMID:20016647

Some bacterial species of the genus Tenacibaculum, including Tenacibaculum ovolyticum, have been known as fish pathogens in the sea. So far, the only published genome sequence for this genus is for Tenacibaculum dicentrarchi, which could also be a fish pathogen. Strain da5A-8, showing 100% identity to the 16S rRNA gene sequence of T. ovolyticum DSM 18103T, was isolated from seawater at a depth of 344 m in Kochi, Japan, and grew optimally at 10 to 20°C. The genome sequence of strain da5A-8 revealed the possible virulence genes commonly observed in the genus Tenacibaculum. PMID:27365358

Spectroscopic observations of the wide binary L151-81A/B reveal that both components are white dwarfs with spectral types DB3 and DA4, the first such binary identified in a comprehensive survey of Luyten and Giclas common proper motion pairs. Assuming log g = 8, measurements of the helium line profiles in the DB primary yield Teff = 16,000 + or - 2,000, while the hydrogen profiles for the DA companion yield Teff =12,000 + or - 2,000. The existence of a helium-rich/hydrogen-rich degenerate pair offers several interesting tests of theoretical white dwarf formation channels and surface abundance evolution.

Chickpea (CP), a legume of the family Fabaceae, is an important nutrient-rich food providing protein, essential amino acids, vitamins, dietary fibre, and minerals. Unfortunately, several IgE-binding proteins in CP have been detected that are responsible for allergic manifestations in sensitized population. Therefore, the prevalence of CP induced allergy prompted us towards purification, characterization and allergenicity assessment of a major ∼26kDa protein from chickpea crude protein extract (CP-CPE). Purification of CP 26kDa protein was done using a combination of fractionation and anion exchange chromatography. This protein was further characterized as "Chain A, crystal structure of a plant albumin" from Cicer arietinum with Mol wt 25.8kDa by Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. Further, allergenic potential of purified 25.8kDa protein was assessed using in vivo and in vitro model. Purified protein showed IgE-binding capacity with sensitized BALB/c mice and CP allergic patient's sera. Enhanced levels of specific and total IgE, MCP-1, MCPT-1, myeloperoxidase, histamine, prostaglandin D2, and cysteinyl leukotriene were found in sera of mice treated with CP ∼26kDa protein. Further, expressions of Th2 cytokines (i.e. IL-4, IL-5, IL-13), transcription factors (i.e. GATA-3, STAT-6, SOCS-3) and mast cell signaling proteins (Lyn, cFgr, Syk, PLC-γ2, PI-3K, PKC) were also found increased at mRNA and protein levels in the intestines of mice treated with CP ∼26kDa protein. In addition, enhanced release of β-hexosaminidase, histamine, cysteinyl leukotriene and prostaglandin D2 were observed in RBL2H3 cell line when treated (125μg) with CP 26kDa protein. Conclusively, in vivo and in vitro studies revealed the allergenic potential of purified CP 26kDa protein. Being a potential allergen, plant albumin may play a pivotal role in CP induced allergenicity. Current study will be helpful for better development of therapeutic approaches to

Some bacterial species of the genus Tenacibaculum, including Tenacibaculum ovolyticum, have been known as fish pathogens in the sea. So far, the only published genome sequence for this genus is for Tenacibaculum dicentrarchi, which could also be a fish pathogen. Strain da5A-8, showing 100% identity to the 16S rRNA gene sequence of T. ovolyticum DSM 18103(T), was isolated from seawater at a depth of 344 m in Kochi, Japan, and grew optimally at 10 to 20°C. The genome sequence of strain da5A-8 revealed the possible virulence genes commonly observed in the genus Tenacibaculum. PMID:27365358

Describes and analyzes the language of young people in Italy today. Particular focus is on the expressions using "para" (e.g., "in para totale" = to be very bored or worried) and the phrase "una cosa da panico" (something terrible or its opposite something wonderful). (CFM)

One of the challenges in the analysis of large data sets, particularly in a population-based setting, is the ability to perform comparisons across projects. This has to be done in such a way that the integrity of each individual project is maintained, while ensuring that the data are comparable across projects. These issues are beginning to be observed in human DNA methylation studies, as the Illumina 450k platform and next generation sequencing-based assays grow in popularity and decrease in price. This increase in productivity is enabling new insights into epigenetics, but also requires the development of pipelines and software capable of handling the large volumes of data. The specific problems inherent in creating a platform for the storage, comparison, integration, and visualization of DNA methylation data include data storage, algorithm efficiency and ability to interpret the results to derive biological meaning from them. Databases provide a ready-made solution to these issues, but as yet no tools exist that that leverage these advantages while providing an intuitive user interface for interpreting results in a genomic context. We have addressed this void by integrating a database to store DNA methylation data with a web interface to query and visualize the database and a set of libraries for more complex analysis. The resulting platform is called DaVIE: Database for the Visualization and Integration of Epigenetics data. DaVIE can use data culled from a variety of sources, and the web interface includes the ability to group samples by sub-type, compare multiple projects and visualize genomic features in relation to sites of interest. We have used DaVIE to identify patterns of DNA methylation in specific projects and across different projects, identify outlier samples, and cross-check differentially methylated CpG sites identified in specific projects across large numbers of samples. A demonstration server has been setup using GEO data at http

Serra da Estrela is the highest mountain in Portugal (1,993 m ASL) and part of the Iberian Central Cordillera. The mountain has a strong relief and a lithological diversity with several types of granitoids and metasediments. Most of the western plateau area was glaciated during the Last Glacial Maximum and its morphology is dominated by glacial landforms. Vieira (2004) produced a detailed geomorphological map of Serra da Estrela and described several sites showing stratified slope, head and debris-flow deposits. Based on the geomorphological analysis of the relationships between glacial and periglacial evidence, a first relative chronology was presented. However, a detailed and systematical sedimentological analysis has not been conducted before and absolute ages are also lacking. Micromorphology analysis has proven to be of considerable value in the interpretation of mountain soils and sediments. Such interpretation depends on identifying diagnostic features, indicating factors as the presence or absence of permafrost, thickness of the active layer, ice segregation and the operation of processes of mass-wasting. In this study, micromorphology was used to answer questions concerning the composition, structure, origin and depositional processes of relict slope deposits. Micromorphology allowed a systematic description of the physical characteristics of the sediments. Lamination and sorting, when preserved, are good evidence for overland flow. Features due to deformation (folds, boudins, coatings and tails due to the rotation of clasts) are associated with sliding. Other mass-movements such as debris flows, earth flows, and to a certain extent, dry grain flows may be characterized by similar microscopic facies, typically a poorly sorted, porphyric material. Porosity gives evidence for both liquefaction (debris flows) and frost-induced mass-movement (solifluction). The relict slope deposits of the Serra da Estrela show an increase in cryogenic micromorphological

The physical behavior of rubble-pile asteroids has traditionally been described using only gravitational and frictional forces within a granular material. Cohesive forces in the form of small van der Waals forces between constituent grains have recently been predicted to be important for small rubble-pile asteroids (less than 10 kilometers in size), and could potentially explain how small fast spinning asteroids remain intact. It is possible to infer the existence of cohesive forces within a rubble-pile asteroid by determining if it has insufficient self-gravity, dictated by its bulk density, to prevent rotational breakup by centrifugal forces. The kilometer-sized and potentially-hazardous asteroid (29075) 1950 DA is one of the largest known candidates for being held together by cohesive forces, as it has a rotation period of 2.1216 h that is just beyond the critical spin limit of 2.2 h estimated for a cohesionless asteroid. Using the Advanced Thermophysical Model (or ATPM), in combination with the radar shape model, WISE thermal-infrared data, and Yarkovsky orbital drift measurement, we determined the thermal inertia, bulk density, and cohesive strength of (29075) 1950 DA (Rozitis et al., 2014, Nature, 512, 174-176). The thermal inertia value is remarkably low at 24 +20/-14 SI units, which gives a corresponding bulk density of 1.7 ± 0.7 g/cm^3 in the Yarkovsky orbital drift analysis. This bulk density is typical of a rubble-pile asteroid, and a minimum cohesive strength of 64 +12/-20 Pa is therefore required to prevent surface mass shedding and structural failure by centrifugal forces. This strength is comparable to, though somewhat less than, the cohesive forces found between the grains of lunar regolith. Finally, as (29075) 1950 DA has a 1 in 19,800 chance of impacting the Earth in 2880, and has the potential to disrupt like main-belt comet P/2013 R3, it raises new implications for impact mitigation against fast spinning rubble-pile asteroids.

Female DA/Han rats were given the phytoestrogen daidzein, either intravenously (10 mg/kg b.w.) or orally by gavage (10 or 100 mg/kg b.w.). The plasma concentration-time curve determined after i.v. administration of daidzein was fitted to a triexponential model, resulting in a final half-life (gamma-phase) of approximately 4 h. The oral bioavailability of 10 mg daidzein/kg was 9.7%, while that of 100 mg/kg was 2.2%; the higher dose (100 mg/kg) was apparently absorbed to a four- to fivefold lower extent than the smaller dose. The plasma concentration time curves after oral administration of daidzein to female DA/Han rats revealed pronounced interindividual differences and multiple peaks, pointing to extensive enterohepatic circulation and/or protracted absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. As shown in a separate experiment with bile duct-cannulated rats, daidzein (i.p. 10 mg/kg b.w.) is efficiently excreted with bile: glucuronide/sulfate metabolites amounting to approximately 30% of the dose in 8 h. Conjugates were also the main circulating metabolites upon i.v. or gavage administration of daidzein, indicating efficient phase II metabolism in female DA/Han rats. Since only few data have been published on tissue levels of isoflavones, their concentrations were measured in various organs and compared to plasma levels determined at the time the animals were killed, with one exception 32 or 48 h after rats had received a single dose of daidzein (i.v. or per os). As expected, the daidzein concentrations depended upon dose and administration route. Despite notable differences in the absolute amounts of total daidzein (free plus hydrolyzed conjugates), the levels were usually three- to fivefold higher in liver and kidney than in plasma; in most samples of uteri, the concentrations were similar, or up to twofold higher, than the respective plasma levels. These data point to an uptake and storage of isoflavones and metabolites in tissues. Experimental toxicokinetics

The light-harvesting complex of photosystem I (LHCI) was isolated from wild-type cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii; the Chl a/b-protein complex contains four major polypeptides of approximately 27, 26, 24, and 20 kDa (polypeptides 14, 15, 17.2, and 22, respectively, in the nomenclature for Chlamydomonas thylakoid proteins). Antiserum against the 20-kDa subunit of LHCI was prepared and used to determine the membrane topology, subcellular site of synthesis, and cell-cycle regulation of this polypeptide. The results indicate that the 20-kDa subunit as well as the other major LHCI polypeptides are integral membrane proteins. Moreover, protease digestion experiments reveal that the 20-kDa polypeptide is completely protected by the membrane bilayer but the 27- and 26-kDa LHCI polypeptides are exposed at the membrane surface. In vivo synthesis of the 20-kDa polypeptide is sensitive to cycloheximide but not to chloramphenicol; the form of the polypeptide recovered from in vitro translations of polyadenylated RNA is approximately 24 kDa, 4 kDa larger than the mature polypeptide. It is concluded that this LHCI polypeptide is nuclear encoded and synthesized in the cytoplasm as a higher molecular weight precursor. Synthesis of the 20-kDa polypeptide is restricted to the light period in light-dark synchronized cells. Translatable mRNA for this polypeptide accumulates during the light but levels are dramatically reduced during the dark period. Thus, synthesis of the 20-kDa subunit of LHCI appears to be transcriptionally regulated during the cell cycle.

A cDNA clone encoding the major intestinal cytosolic 14-kDa bile acid-binding protein (14-kDa I-BABP) was isolated from a rat ileal lambda gt22A library following immunoscreening using a monospecific antiserum raised against a 14-kDa polypeptide found in the rat ileal cytosol. One clone of 516 bp encoded a 128-amino acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 14,544 Da. The deduced amino acid sequence of 14-kDa I-BABP showed 100% homology to rat intestinal 15-kDa protein (I-15P) and 72% homology to porcine 15-kDa gastrotropin, whereas comparison of I-BABP to rat 14-kDa fatty acid-binding proteins of liver, intestine, and heart revealed homologies of 44%, 25%, and 28%, respectively. Northern blot analysis revealed a single transcript of approximately 0.5 kb in ileum and ovary; however, the abundance of I-BABP mRNA was much greater in ileum than in ovary. No transcript was seen in RNA extracted from stomach, jejunum, colon, liver, adrenal, brain, heart, kidney, or testis. Transfection of the I-BABP cDNA into COS-7 cells resulted in the expression of a 14-kDa protein that was identical to the ileal cytosolic I-BABP as determined by immunoblotting. Photoaffinity labeling of expressed 14-kDa protein was saturable with respect to increasing concentrations of 7,7-azo[3H]taurocholate (Km, 83.3 microM; Vmax, 6.7 pmol/mg per 5 min). Taurocholate inhibited 7,7-azotaurocholate labeling by > 96% with lesser inhibition by taurochenodeoxycholate (83.1%), chenodeoxycholate (74.6%), cholate (50.5%), and progesterone (38.5%), whereas oleic acid and estradiol did not inhibit binding. Images PMID:8197128

The light-harvesting complex of photosystem I (LHCI) was isolated from wild-type cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii; the Chl a/b-protein complex contains four major polypeptides of approximately 27, 26, 24, and 20 kDa (polypeptides 14, 15, 17.2, and 22, respectively, in the nomenclature for Chlamydomonas thylakoid proteins). Antiserum against the 20-kDa subunit of LHCI was prepared and used to determine the membrane topology, subcellular site of synthesis, and cell-cycle regulation of this polypeptide. The results indicate that the 20-kDa subunit as well as the other major LHCI polypeptides are integral membrane proteins. Moreover, protease digestion experiments reveal that the 20-kDa polypeptide is completely protected by the membrane bilayer but the 27- and 26-kDa LHCI polypeptides are exposed at the membrane surface. In vivo synthesis of the 20-kDa polypeptide is sensitive to cycloheximide but not to chloramphenicol; the form of the polypeptide recovered from in vitro translations of polyadenylated RNA is approximately 24 kDa, 4 kDa larger than the mature polypeptide. It is concluded that this LHCI polypeptide is nuclear encoded and synthesized in the cytoplasm as a higher molecular weight precursor. Synthesis of the 20-kDa polypeptide is restricted to the light period in light-dark synchronized cells. Translatable mRNA for this polypeptide accumulates during the light but levels are dramatically reduced during the dark period. Thus, synthesis of the 20-kDa subunit of LHCI appears to be transcriptionally regulated during the cell cycle. PMID:3555343

Deschampsia antarctica is an Antarctic hairgrass that grows on the west coast of the Antarctic peninsula. In this report, we have identified and characterized a transcription factor, D. antarctica C-repeat binding factor 7 (DaCBF7), that is a member of the monocot group V CBF homologs. The protein contains a single AP2 domain, a putative nuclear localization signal, and the typical CBF signature. DaCBF7, like other monocot group V homologs, contains a distinct polypeptide stretch composed of 43 amino acids in front of the AP2 motif. DaCBF7 was predominantly localized to nuclei and interacted with the C-repeat/dehydration responsive element (CRT/DRE) core sequence (ACCGAC) in vitro. DaCBF7 was induced by abiotic stresses, including drought, cold, and salinity. To investigate its possible cellular role in cold tolerance, a transgenic rice system was employed. DaCBF7-overexpressing transgenic rice plants (Ubi:DaCBF7) exhibited markedly increased tolerance to cold stress compared to wild-type plants without growth defects; however, overexpression of DaCBF7 exerted little effect on tolerance to drought or salt stress. Transcriptome analysis of a Ubi:DaCBF7 transgenic line revealed 13 genes that were up-regulated in DaCBF7-overexpressing plants compared to wild-type plants in the absence of cold stress and in short- or long-term cold stress. Five of these genes, dehydrin, remorin, Os03g63870, Os11g34790, and Os10g22630, contained putative CRT/DRE or low-temperature responsive elements in their promoter regions. These results suggest that overexpression of DaCBF7 directly and indirectly induces diverse genes in transgenic rice plants and confers enhanced tolerance to cold stress. PMID:26025521

The electron-positron collider DA{Phi}NE, the Italian {Phi} factory, has been recently upgraded in order to implement an innovative collision scheme based on large crossing angle, small beam sizes at the crossing point, and compensation of beam-beam interaction by means of sextupole pairs creating a ''crab-waist'' configuration in the interaction region. Experimental tests of the novel scheme exhibited an increase by a factor of 3 in the peak luminosity of the collider with respect to the performances reached before the upgrade. In this Letter we present the new collision scheme, discuss its advantages, describe the hardware modifications realized for the upgrade, and report the results of the experimental tests carried out during commissioning of the machine in the new configuration and standard operation for the users.

We present the initial results from a program aimed at establishing a network of hot DA white dwarfs to serve as spectrophotometric standards for present and future wide-field surveys. These stars span the equatorial zone and are faint enough to be conveniently observed throughout the year with large-aperture telescopes. The spectra of these white dwarfs are analyzed in order to generate a non-local-thermodynamic-equilibrium model atmosphere normalized to Hubble Space Telescope colors, including adjustments for wavelength-dependent interstellar extinction. Once established, this standard star network will serve ground-based observatories in both hemispheres as well as space-based instrumentation from the UV to the near IR. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this concept and show how two different approaches to the problem using somewhat different assumptions produce equivalent results. We discuss the lessons learned and the resulting corrective actions applied to our program.

Observations are reported which refine the binary ephemeris of the Feige 24 system, which contains a peculiar hot DA white dwarf and an M dwarf with an atmosphere illuminated by extreme ultraviolet radiation from the white dwarf. With the new ephemeris and a set of IUE high-dispersion spectra, showing phase-dependent redshifted C IV, N V, and Si IV resonance lines, the orbital velocity, and hence the mass (0.54 + or - 0.20 solar masses), and the gravitational redshift of the white dwarf (14.1 + or - 5.2 km/s) are determined independently. It is shown that the measured Einstein redshift is consistent with an estimated radius for the white dwarf obtained from a model atmosphere solid angle and a parallax measurement. This radius is twice the Hamada-Salpeter radius for the given mass and offers a prospect to investigate the presence of a massive hydrogen envelope in that white dwarf star.

The faint (g = 16.9) hot white dwarf BOKS 53856 was observed by the Kepler Mission in short cadence mode during mid-2009. Analysis of these observations reveals a highly stable modulation with a period of 6.1375 hr and a 2.46% half-amplitude. The folded light curve has an unusual shape that is difficult to explain in terms of a binary system containing an unseen companion more luminous than an L0 brown dwarf. Optical spectra of BOKS 53856 show a T{sub eff} = 34,000 K, log g = 8.0 DA white dwarf. There are few, if any, known white dwarfs in this temperature range exhibiting photometric variations similar to those we describe. A magnetic spin-modulated white dwarf model can in principle explain the light curve, an interpretation supported by spectral observations of the H{alpha} line showing evidence of Zeeman splitting.

Patients, who reported to Government Medical College Hospital, Chandigarh with suspected signs and symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis, were examined. Their sputum was investigated for the presence of acid-fast bacilli, using the routine Ziehl-Neelsen staining, for 3 consecutive days. The positive cases were referred for treatment and the rest were referred for supplementary tests like x-ray, Mantoux test, FNAC and the presence of IgG antibodies in their serum against recombinant 38-kDa antigen derived from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, using micro-ELISA plates. It was found that 37.8% of the cases who were negative for acid-fast bacilli found to be positive for the presence of antimycobacterial IgG antibodies with an antibody titre greater than the cut off value in addition to one of the above mentioned positive supplementary finding. Hence, EIA for tuberculosis is more sensitive as compared to the routine acid-fast bacilli staining. PMID:9141876

An international VLBI experiment on radio location of the asteroid 2012 DA14 was organized on 2013 February 15--16, during its flyby close to Earth. The purpose of observations was to investigate and specify orbital parameters of the asteroid, as well as to evaluate its rotation period and other characteristics. The irradiation of the asteroid was performed by the RT-70 transmitter at Evpatoria (Crimea, Ukraine), while the reflected signals were successfully accepted by the two 32 m radio telescopes at Medicina (Bologna, Italy) and Irbene (Ventspils, Latvia). Processing and interpretation of the data were performed both in the Radiophysical Research Institute and in the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Center. The first results of this experiment are presented and discussed.

The authors study medium modifications of J/{psi} production in cold nuclear media in deuterium-nucleus collisions. They discuss several parameterizations of the modifications of the parton densities in the nucleus, known as shadowing, an initial-state effect. They also include absorption of the produced J/{psi} by nucleons, a final-state effect. Both spatially homogeneous and inhomogeneous shadowing and absorption are considered. They use the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions as a centrality measure. Results are presented for d+Au collisions at {radical}S{sub NN} = 200 GeV and for d+Pb collisions at {radical}S{sub NN} = 6.2 TeV. To contrast the centrality dependence in pA and dA collisions, they also present pPb results at {radical}S{sub NN} = 8.8 TeV.

A 138-kDa glycoprotein comprising folate deaminase activity was purified to apparent homogeneity from membranes of Dictyostelium discoideum. Deaminase activity could be effectively inhibited by p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonate. This treatment protected folate from deamination and thus allowed investigation of folate binding to deaminase fractions. Two types of folate binding sites, differing in affinity and specificity, were detected on the folate deaminase glycoprotein. One type displays high affinity and binds folate stronger than N10-methylfolate. This binding site appears to be identical with the catalytic site of folate deaminase. The other type of binding site shows lower affinity but prefers N10-methylfolate relative to folate. A similar preference for N10-methylfolate was observed in chemotaxis tests pointing to the possibility that the second type of binding site is involved in chemotactic perception of folate compounds. Folate perception and deamination could thus be performed by activities residing on the same polypeptide. PMID:1544893

EC14012-1446 is a hydrogen atmosphere (DA) white dwarf pulsator. Its rich pulsation spectrum displays a range of excited modes with complex multiplet structure, in addition to numerous combination frequencies. In April 2008, EC14012-1446 was the primary target of XCOV26. We obtained over 300 hrs of nearly continuous high speed photometry with the goal of using the nonlinear pulse shapes to empirically determine the parameters of the convection zone. The Fourier transform (FT) of the light curve contains power between 1000 to 4000 microHz, with the dominant peak at 1234 microHz. We find 13 independent frequencies distributed in 8 modes, as well as a myriad of combination frequencies. We present preliminary results of our asteroseismological investigation and lay the groundwork for future investigation leading to light curve fitting of EC14012-1446. This research is funded by Mt. Cuba Observatory (Greenville, DE) and the Crystal Trust Foundation.

Additional Middle Paleolithic human remains from layers 17, 18, and 22 of the Gruta da Oliveira, Portugal consist of a proximal manual phalanx 2 (Oliveira 5), a partial postcanine tooth (Oliveira 6), a humeral diaphysis (Oliveira 7), a distal mandibular molar (Oliveira 8), and a mandibular premolar (P(3) ) (Oliveira 9). Oliveira 5, 6, and 8 are unremarkable for Late Pleistocene humans. The Oliveira 7 right humerus is moderately robust or the individual had the stocky body proportions of other European (including Iberian) Neandertals. The Oliveira 9 P(3) has a large and symmetrical crown and lacks a distal accessory ridge and accessory lingual cusps, overlapping both Neandertal and recent human ranges of variation. It contrasts with at least recent human P(3) s in having relatively thin enamel. These join the Oliveira 1 to 4 remains in further documenting early MIS 3 Neandertal morphology in western Iberia. PMID:22610966

We report the most rapid rate of period change measured to date for a pulsating DA (hydrogen atmosphere) white dwarf (WD), observed in the 292.9 s mode of WD 0111+0018. The observed period change, faster than 10{sup -12} s s{sup -1}, exceeds by more than two orders of magnitude the expected rate from cooling alone for this class of slow and simply evolving pulsating WDs. This result indicates the presence of an additional timescale for period evolution in these pulsating objects. We also measure the rates of period change of nonlinear combination frequencies and show that they share the evolutionary characteristics of their parent modes, confirming that these combination frequencies are not independent modes but rather artifacts of some nonlinear distortion in the outer layers of the star.

Antitumor, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of basil were studied, along with its characterization in phenolic compounds, organic acids and soluble sugars. The results placed basil as a valuable candidate for functionalization and conservation of food products, maintaining their nutritional properties, while increasing their shelf life and potential health effects. The basil leaves were then incorporated in "Serra da Estrela Cheese", either in its dehydrated form or as a decoction. The cheeses were then subject to a nutritional evaluation, being characterized for their fatty acids, minerals and CIE color parameters. To assess the combined effects of plant incorporation and storage time, a 2-way ANOVA was used to process the results, further analysed through a linear discriminant analysis. Overall, basil leaves provided antioxidant activity to the cheeses, reduced the moisture, and preserved the unsaturated fatty acids and proteins. Comparing both incorporation types, the decoctions had a higher functionalizing and conservative effect. PMID:27080879

The first robotic simple hysterectomy was performed more than 10 years ago. These days, robotic-assisted hysterectomy is accepted as an alternative surgical approach and is applied both in benign and malignant surgical entities. The two important points that should be taken into account to optimize postoperative outcomes in the early period of a surgeon’s training are how to achieve optimal oncological and functional results. Overcoming any technical challenge, as with any innovative surgical method, leads to an improved surgical operation timewise as well as for patients’ safety. The standardization of the technique and recognition of critical anatomical landmarks are essential for optimal oncological and clinical outcomes on both simple and radical robotic-assisted hysterectomy. Based on our experience, our intention is to present user-friendly tips and tricks to optimize the application of a da Vinci® robot in simple or radical hysterectomies. PMID:27403078

Following the discovery of discoloration on some pages of the Atlantic Codex (AC) of Leonardo da Vinci kept in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, some investigations have been carried out to verify the presence of microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. To verify the presence of microorganisms a noninvasive method of sampling has been used that was efficient and allowed us to highlight the microbial facies of the material that was examined using conventional microbiological techniques. The microclimatic conditions in the storage room as well as the water content of the volume were also assessed. The combined observations allowed the conclusion that the discoloration of suspected biological origin on some pages of AC is not related to the presence or current attack of microbial agents. PMID:25574171

We examined the anti-stress action of the essential oils of lavender, rose, and lemon using an elevated plus-maze task (EPM), a forced swimming task (FST), and an open field task (OFT) in mice. Lemon oil had the strongest anti-stress effect in all three behavioral tasks. We further investigated a regulatory mechanism of the lemon oil by pre-treatments with agonists or antagonists to benzodiazepine, 5-HT, DA, and adrenaline receptors by the EPM and the FST. The anti-stress effect of lemon oil was significantly blocked by pre-treatment with frumazenil, benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, or apomorphine, a nonselective DA receptor agonist. In contrast, agonists or antagonists to the 5-HT receptor and the alpha-2 adrenaline receptor did not affect the anti-stress effect of lemon oil. Buspirone, DOI, and mianserine blocked the antidepressant-like effect of lemon oil in the FST, but WAY100,635 did not. These findings suggest that the antidepressant-like effect of lemon oil is closely related with the 5-HTnergic pathway, especially via 5-HT(1A) receptor. Moreover, the lemon oil significantly accelerated the metabolic turnover of DA in the hippocampus and of 5-HT in the prefrontal cortex and striatum. These results suggest that lemon oil possesses anxiolytic, antidepressant-like effects via the suppression of DA activity related to enhanced 5-HTnergic neurons. PMID:16780969

Dynamic Assessment (DA) derives from Vygotsky's (1987) insight that the use of mediation, attuned to learner needs, enables learners to perform beyond their current level of functioning, thereby providing insights into emerging capabilities. The instructional quality of mediation means that this process simultaneously creates possibilities…

In the present work, graphene sheets (GS) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were dispersed in the mixed solution of cyclodextrin (CD) and cyclodextrin prepolymer (pre-CD) and were used as modifier to fabricate chemical modified electrode to simultaneous detect dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA) and nitrite (NO2(-)). CD cross-linked pre-CD (CDP) displays excellent film forming ability, which made the electrode stable. Comparing with CDP-GS, CDP-MWCNTs and CDP-GS-MWCNTs modified electrodes, the CDP-GS-MWCNTs displays higher catalytic activity and selectivity toward the oxidation of DA, AA and NO2(-), revealing that MWCNTs effectively inhibited the stacking of individual GS and enhanced the utilization of GS based composites. The host-guest chemical reaction ability of CD and π-π stacking interaction between detected molecules and GS-MWCNTs surface were considered as the main reasons of the successfully simultaneous detection of DA, AA and NO2(-). Cyclic voltammetry (CV), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and different pulse voltammetry (DPV) were employed to characterize the biosensor. The linear response range for AA, DA and NO2(-) were 5 μM-0.48 mM, 0.15-21.65 μM and 5 μM-6.75 mM, respectively and the detection limits were 1.65 μM, 0.05 μM and 1.65 μM. PMID:21497078

Boiled silkworm pupa is a traditional food in Asia, and patients with silkworm pupa food allergy are common in these regions. Still now only one allergen from silkworm, arginine kinase, has been identified. The purpose of this study was to identify novel food allergens in silkworm pupa by analyzing a protein extract after heat treatment. Heat treated extracts were examined by proteomic analysis. A 27-kDa glycoprotein was identified, expressed in Escherichia coli, and purified. IgE reactivity of the recombinant protein was investigated by ELISA. High molecular weight proteins (above 100 kDa) elicited increased IgE binding after heat treatment compared to that before heat treatment. The molecular identities of these proteins, however, could not be determined. IgE reactivity toward a 27-kDa glycoprotein was also increased after heating the protein extract. The recombinant protein was recognized by IgE antibodies from allergic subjects (33.3%). Glycation or aggregation of protein by heating may create new IgE binding epitopes. Heat stable allergens are shown to be important in silkworm allergy. Sensitization to the 27-kDa glycoprotein from silkworm may contribute to elevation of IgE to silkworm. PMID:26770033

Boiled silkworm pupa is a traditional food in Asia, and patients with silkworm pupa food allergy are common in these regions. Still now only one allergen from silkworm, arginine kinase, has been identified. The purpose of this study was to identify novel food allergens in silkworm pupa by analyzing a protein extract after heat treatment. Heat treated extracts were examined by proteomic analysis. A 27-kDa glycoprotein was identified, expressed in Escherichia coli, and purified. IgE reactivity of the recombinant protein was investigated by ELISA. High molecular weight proteins (above 100 kDa) elicited increased IgE binding after heat treatment compared to that before heat treatment. The molecular identities of these proteins, however, could not be determined. IgE reactivity toward a 27-kDa glycoprotein was also increased after heating the protein extract. The recombinant protein was recognized by IgE antibodies from allergic subjects (33.3%). Glycation or aggregation of protein by heating may create new IgE binding epitopes. Heat stable allergens are shown to be important in silkworm allergy. Sensitization to the 27-kDa glycoprotein from silkworm may contribute to elevation of IgE to silkworm. PMID:26770033

In order to define the protease domain of human immunodeficiency virus 1, various regions of the pol open reading frame were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Antiserum directed against the conserved retroviral protease active site was used to identify pol precursor and processed species containing the presumed protease domain. The smallest product that accumulates is about 11 kDa as measured by NaDodSO4/PAGE. This size agrees with that predicted from the presence in this region of two Phe-Pro sequences, which is one of the cleavage sites recognized by HIV protease. DNA encoding only the predicted 11-kDa protein was cloned, bypassing the need for autoprocessing, and the protein was expressed to a high level in E. coli. This form is active as demonstrated by its ability to specifically cleave protease-deficient pol protein in vivo in E. coli. Extracts of E. coli containing the 11-kDa protease also process human immunodeficiency virus gag substrates in vitro. These results demonstrate that the 11-kDa protease is sufficient for enzymatic activity and are consistent with a major role for this form in virus maturation. Images PMID:3282230

Human transcription factor IIIC contains a 55 kDa polypeptide which specifically interacts with the Adenovirus 2 VAI gene promoter and which mimics most of the DNA binding properties of the entire factor. The specificity and affinity of this protein:DNA interaction was demonstrated by: (i) Separation of purified fractions of hTFIIIC by SDS PAGE, electrotransfer to nitrocellulose, renaturation of proteins and their subsequent binding to the VAI gene, (ii) recovery and renaturation of proteins from SDS gels and identification of a fraction of hTFIIIC with a molecular mass less than 68 kDa, which specifically binds to VAI DNA, (iii) correlating the differential binding activity of the renatured 55 kDa component of hTFIIIC to mutated Pol III promoters with the ability of the entire factor to form functional transcription complexes thereon, and finally by (iv) specific crosslinking of the 55 kDa DNA binding component of hTFIIIC to the photoaffinity labeled B-box promoter sequence of the VAI gene. Images PMID:2395640

... 32 National Defense 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Certificate for Signature by an Alternate (DA Form 4881-1-R) D Appendix D to Part 623 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT LOAN OF ARMY MATERIEL Pt. 623, App. D Appendix D to Part...

... 32 National Defense 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Certificate for Signature by an Alternate (DA Form 4881-1-R) D Appendix D to Part 623 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT LOAN OF ARMY MATERIEL Pt. 623, App. D Appendix D to Part...

... 32 National Defense 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Certificate for Signature by an Alternate (DA Form 4881-1-R) D Appendix D to Part 623 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT LOAN OF ARMY MATERIEL Pt. 623, App. D Appendix D to Part...

... 32 National Defense 3 2011-07-01 2009-07-01 true Certificate for Signature by an Alternate (DA Form 4881-1-R) D Appendix D to Part 623 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT LOAN OF ARMY MATERIEL Pt. 623, App. D Appendix D to Part...

... 32 National Defense 3 2012-07-01 2009-07-01 true Certificate for Signature by an Alternate (DA Form 4881-1-R) D Appendix D to Part 623 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT LOAN OF ARMY MATERIEL Pt. 623, App. D Appendix D to Part...

An e-mail survey and interviews collected data on use of information and communications technology (ICT) in Finnish Leonardo da Vinci mobility projects from 2000-02. Findings showed that the most common ICT tools used were e-mail, digital tools, and the World Wide Web; ICT was used during all project phases; the most common problems concerned…

An interdisciplinary partnership within an European Leonardo da Vinci project has developed a new approach aimed at educating secondary school students in the creation of built environments accessible to disabled people and at sensitizing them towards the inclusion of people with disabilities in all realms of social life. The AWARD (Accessible…

A laminar cortical model of stereopsis and 3D surface perception is developed and simulated. The model describes how monocular and binocular oriented filtering interact with later stages of 3D boundary formation and surface filling-in in the LGN and cortical areas V1, V2, and V4. It proposes how interactions between layers 4, 3B, and 2/3 in V1 and V2 contribute to stereopsis, and how binocular and monocular information combine to form 3D boundary and surface representations. The model includes two main new developments: (1) It clarifies how surface-to-boundary feedback from V2 thin stripes to pale stripes helps to explain data about stereopsis. This feedback has previously been used to explain data about 3D figure-ground perception. (2) It proposes that the binocular false match problem is subsumed under the Gestalt grouping problem. In particular, the disparity filter, which helps to solve the correspondence problem by eliminating false matches, is realized using inhibitory interneurons as part of the perceptual grouping process by horizontal connections in layer 2/3 of cortical area V2. The enhanced model explains all the psychophysical data previously simulated by Grossberg and Howe (2003), such as contrast variations of dichoptic masking and the correspondence problem, the effect of interocular contrast differences on stereoacuity, Panum's limiting case, the Venetian blind illusion, stereopsis with polarity-reversed stereograms, and da Vinci stereopsis. It also explains psychophysical data about perceptual closure and variations of da Vinci stereopsis that previous models cannot yet explain. PMID:16312095

Disposition and transplacental transfer of the phytoestrogen daidzein was studied in pregnant DA/Han rats on day 18 of gestation. Daidzein concentrations were determined by HPLC in maternal blood, maternal organs (liver, kidney, uterus), placenta and fetuses (liver and residual tissues) at specific times (5, 10, 20, 40 and 120 min) after intravenous administration of 10 mg/kg body weight. Early after injection, the majority of circulating daidzein was still in the aglycone form; at later time points the majority consisted of conjugates. The initially high isoflavone concentration in maternal plasma (about 25 microg/ml at 5 min) decreased rapidly within the first hour, and after 2 h total daidzein was below 1 microg/ml. Despite its efficient conjugation, daidzein was rapidly distributed in the organism: peak concentrations were attained 10 min after intravenous administration in all tissues analysed, with mean values of about 31 microg/g in maternal liver, 13 microg/g in kidneys and 5 microg/g in the uterus. Placenta contained about one-tenth the hepatic daidzein concentration, and fetal liver about 1/30 the peak concentration of maternal liver (i.e. 1.3 microg/g, which is one-third the placental concentration). Daidzein levels in tissues then declined in parallel with those in maternal blood. The data show that daidzein is transferred across the placenta of DA/Han rats to fetuses. This is indicative of a rapid transfer from the mother to the fetus, but also that efficient hepatic extraction of daidzein from the maternal blood occurs. Since dietary phytoestrogens account for a significant proportion of human exposure to potential endocrine modulators, and since the placenta does not represent a barrier to daidzein or related estrogenic isoflavones, the consequences of these exposures early in life should be examined and monitored carefully. PMID:11875621

This study explored the rather rapid adoption of a new surgical device - the da Vinci robot - in the Netherlands despite the high costs and its controversial clinical benefits. We used the concept 'affordances' as a conceptual-analytic tool to refer to the perceived promises, symbolic meanings, and utility values of an innovation constructed in the wider social context of use. This concept helps us empirically understand robot adoption. Data from 28 in-depth interviews with diverse purposively-sampled stakeholders, and from medical literature, policy documents, Health Technology Assessment reports, congress websites and patients' weblogs/forums between April 2009 and February 2014 were systematically analysed from the perspective of affordances. We distinguished five interrelated affordances of the robot that accounted for shaping and fulfilling its rapid adoption: 'characteristics-related' affordances such as smart nomenclature and novelty, symbolising high-tech clinical excellence; 'research-related' affordances offering medical-technical scientific excellence; 'entrepreneurship-related' affordances for performing better-than-the-competition; 'policy-related' affordances indicating the robot's liberalised provision and its reduced financial risks; and 'communication-related' affordances of the robot in shaping patients' choices and the public's expectations by resonating promising discourses while pushing uncertainties into the background. These affordances make the take-up and use of the da Vinci robot sound perfectly rational and inevitable. This Dutch case study demonstrates the fruitfulness of the affordances approach to empirically capturing the contextual dynamics of technology adoption in health care: exploring in-depth actors' interaction with the technology while considering the interpretative spaces created in situations of use. This approach can best elicit real-life value of innovations, values as defined through the eyes of (potential) users. PMID

CoDa (Cosmic Dawn) is the largest fully coupled radiation hydrodynamics simulation of the reionization of the local Universe to date. It was performed using RAMSES-CUDATON running on 8192 nodes (i.e. 8192 GPUs) on the titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to simulate a 64 h-1Mpc side box down to z=4.23. In this simulation, reionization proceeds self-consistently, driven by stellar radiation. We compare the simulation's reionization history, ionizing flux density, the cosmic star formation history and the CMB Thompson scattering optical depth with their observational values. Luminosity functions are also in rather good agreement with high redshift observations, although very bright objects (MAB1600 < -21) are overabundant in CoDa. We investigate the evolution of the intergalactic medium, and find that gas filaments present a sheathed structure, with a hot envelope surrounding a cooler core. They are however not able to self-shield, while regions denser than 10^-4.5 H atoms per comoving h^-3cm^3 are. Haloes below M ˜ 3.10^9 M⊙ are severely affected by the expanding, rising UV background: their ISM is quickly photo-heated to temperatures above our star formation threshold and therefore stop forming stars after local reionization has occured. Overall, the haloes between 10^(10-11) M⊙ dominate the star formation budget of the box for most of the Epoch of Reionization. Several additional studies will follow, looking for instance at environmental effects on galaxy properties, and the regimes of accretion.

A cationic Schistosoma mansoni cercarial antigen was shown to be a serine protease as it was capable of hydrolysing N-acetyl-DL-phenylalanine beta-naphthyl ester (NAPBNE) after precipitation by immunoelectrophoresis, and this reaction was modulated by the serine protease inhibitors phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and diisopropylfluorophosphate (DEP). The antigen in the immunoprecipitin arcs could also be radio-isotope labelled with tritiated DFP. The peptidolytic enzyme identified in immunoelectrophoresis with polyspecific sera and radio-isotope labelled with tritiated DFP had a relative molecular size of approximately 27 kDa in sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and evidence obtained after partial purification, SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting supported this size estimate for the enzyme. A rabbit antiserum raised against the peptidolytic antigen reacted against a doublet of antigens at 27/28 kDa in immunoelectrophoresis arcs and against an antigen of 60 kDa in Western immunoblots of crude cercarial homogenate. However, the latter serum precipitated the cationic antigen in immunoelectrophoresed cercarial homogenates only after pre-incubation of the homogenates with PMSF. Fractions containing the partially purified protease also degraded radio-isotope labelled human IgG. The reactivity of a range of polyspecific and monospecific rabbit antisera in Western blots with larval extracts indicated that antibody responses against the 27/28 kDa doublet may be modulated. When immunized with material which contained the 27 kDa enzyme as a major constituent, and which was secreted by S. mansoni cercariae during transformation, only 5 of 16 mice produced antibody to this antigen that was detectable in Western blots. The 5 antibody 'responder' mice were significantly (P < 0.001) protected against challenge with a percutaneous infection of S. mansoni cercariae compared with a group of a mice also immunized with CTF, but which had not produced

The maize opaque2 (o2) mutant has a high nutritional value but it develops a chalky endosperm that limits its practical use. Genetic selection for o2 modifiers can convert the normally chalky endosperm of the mutant into a hard, vitreous phenotype, yielding what is known as quality protein maize (QPM). Previous studies have shown that enhanced expression of 27-kDa γ-zein in QPM is essential for endosperm modification. Taking advantage of genome-wide association study analysis of a natural population, linkage mapping analysis of a recombinant inbred line population, and map-based cloning, we identified a quantitative trait locus (qγ27) affecting expression of 27-kDa γ-zein. qγ27 was mapped to the same region as the major o2 modifier (o2 modifier1) on chromosome 7 near the 27-kDa γ-zein locus. qγ27 resulted from a 15.26-kb duplication at the 27-kDa γ-zein locus, which increases the level of gene expression. This duplication occurred before maize domestication; however, the gene structure of qγ27 appears to be unstable and the DNA rearrangement frequently occurs at this locus. Because enhanced expression of 27-kDa γ-zein is critical for endosperm modification in QPM, qγ27 is expected to be under artificial selection. This discovery provides a useful molecular marker that can be used to accelerate QPM breeding. PMID:27092004

The maize opaque2 (o2) mutant has a high nutritional value but it develops a chalky endosperm that limits its practical use. Genetic selection for o2 modifiers can convert the normally chalky endosperm of the mutant into a hard, vitreous phenotype, yielding what is known as quality protein maize (QPM). Previous studies have shown that enhanced expression of 27-kDa γ-zein in QPM is essential for endosperm modification. Taking advantage of genome-wide association study analysis of a natural population, linkage mapping analysis of a recombinant inbred line population, and map-based cloning, we identified a quantitative trait locus (qγ27) affecting expression of 27-kDa γ-zein. qγ27 was mapped to the same region as the major o2 modifier (o2 modifier1) on chromosome 7 near the 27-kDa γ-zein locus. qγ27 resulted from a 15.26-kb duplication at the 27-kDa γ-zein locus, which increases the level of gene expression. This duplication occurred before maize domestication; however, the gene structure of qγ27 appears to be unstable and the DNA rearrangement frequently occurs at this locus. Because enhanced expression of 27-kDa γ-zein is critical for endosperm modification in QPM, qγ27 is expected to be under artificial selection. This discovery provides a useful molecular marker that can be used to accelerate QPM breeding. PMID:27092004

Many AM&FM broadcasting stations in Japan are connected by the leased circuit system of NTT. Small delay and high performance AD/DA converter was developed for the system. The system was designed based on ITU-T J.41 Recommendation (384kbps), the transmission signal is 11bit-32 kHz where the Gain-frequency characteristics between 40Hz to 15kHz have to be quite flat. The ΔΣAD/DA converter LSIs for audio application in the market today realize very high performance. However the performance is not enough for the leased circuit system. We found that it is not possible to meet the delay and Gain-frequency requirements only by using ΔΣAD/DA converter LSI in normal operation, because 15kHz the highest frequency and 16kHz Nyquist frequency are too close, therefore there are aliasing around Nyquist frequency. In this paper, we designed AD/DA architecture having small delay (1msec) and sharp cut off LPF (100dB attenuation at 16kHz, and 1500dB/Oct from 15kHz to 16kHz) by operating ΔΣAD/DA converter LSIs over-sampling rate such as 128kHz and by adding custom LPF designed Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filter. The IIR filter is a 16th order elliptic type and it is consist of eight biquad filters in series. We described how to evaluate the stability of IIR filter theoretically by calculating frequency response, Pole and Zero Layout and impulse response of each biquad filter, and experimentally by adding overflow detection circuit on each filters and input overlord signal.

Background: We have previously reported that a 31 kDa protein was screened from the excretory-secretory (ES) proteins of Tichinella spiralis muscle larvae (ML) by immunoproteomics using early infection sera, and the gene encoding a 31 kDa protein from T. spiralis was cloned and expressed in an E. coli expression system. In this study, the recombinant 31 kDa antigens were used for detection of anti-Trichinella antibodies in serum of experimentally infected mice by ELISA. Methods: Anti-Trichinella IgG antibodies in sera of mice infected with Trichinella were assayed by ELISA with recombinant 31 kDa antigens, and its sensitivity and specificity were compared with ELISA with ES antigen. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA with recombinant antigens was 96.67% (29/30) and 96.87% (62/64), compared with 100% (30/30) and 98.44% (63/64) of ELISA with ES antigens was (P>0.05). In heavily, moderately and lightly infected mice (500, 300 and 100 larvae/mouse), anti-Trichinella antibodies were firstly detected by ELISA with recombinant antigens at 8, 12 and 14 dpi, respectively; then increased rapidly with a detection rate of 100% respectively at 28, 22 and 30 dpi. While the antibodies were firstly detected by ELISA with ES antigens at 10, 8 and 10 dpi, respectively, the antibody positive rate reached 100% at 14, 12 and 22 dpi, respectively. Conclusion: The recombinant 31 kDa antigens of T. spirali had a good sensitivity and specificity for detecting anti-Trichinella antibodies and might be the potential diagnostic antigen for trichinellosis. PMID:26246820

Double anal fin (Da) is a medaka with an autosomal semidominant mutation that causes mirror image duplication of the ventral region concentrating on the caudal region. The chromosomal location of the Da gene and its sequence have remained unknown. We constructed a medaka linkage map as a first step to approach positional cloning of the gene. The segregation analysis was performed on the basis of genetic recombination during female meiosis using 134 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers, 13 sequence-tagged sites (STSs), 15 polymorphic sequences from known genes, and the Da gene. One hundred forty-six markers from the above markers segregated into 26 linkage groups. The size of the genome was estimated to be 1776 cM in length. We identified four syntenic regions between medaka and zebrafish (and human) by mapping the known genes and found one of them to be located in close proximity to the Da gene. By mapping the region surrounding the Da gene in high resolution, two markers were detected flanking the Da gene at 0.32 and 0.80 cM. The detected markers providing a vital clue to initiate chromosome walking will lead us to the definite location of the Da gene. PMID:10613850

Cotton plants accumulate phytotoxins, such as gossypol and related sesquiterpene aldehydes, to resist insect herbivores. The survival of insects exposed to toxic secondary metabolites depends on the detoxification metabolism mediated by limited groups of cytochrome P450. Gossypol has an antibiotic effect on Aphis gossypii, and as the concentrations of gossypol were increased in the present study, the mortality of cotton aphids increased from 4 to 28%. The fecundity of the cotton aphids exposed to gossypol was also significantly reduced compared with the control. The transcriptional levels of CYP6DA2 in cotton aphids were significantly induced when exposed to gossypol, and knockdown of the CYP6DA2 transcripts by RNA interference (RNAi) significantly increased the toxicity of gossypol to cotton aphids. To further understand the gossypol regulatory cascade, the 5'-flanking promoter sequences of CYP6DA2 were isolated with a genome walker, and the promoter was very active and was inducible by gossypol. Co-transfection of the cap 'n' collar isoform C (CncC) and CYP6DA2 promoters dramatically increased the expression of CYP6DA2, and suppression of the CncC transcripts by RNAi significantly decreased the expression levels of CYP6DA2, and significantly increased the toxicity of gossypol to cotton aphids. Thus, the transcriptional regulation of CYP6DA2 involved the transcriptional factor CncC. PMID:27005728

Protein 4.1B is a member of protein 4.1 family, adaptor proteins at the interface of membranes and the cytoskeleton. It is expressed in most mammalian tissues and is known to be required in formation of nervous and cardiac systems; it is also a tumor suppressor with a role in metastasis. Here, we explore functions of 4.1B using primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) derived from wild type and 4.1B knock-out mice. MEF cells express two 4.1B isoforms: 130 and 60-kDa. 130-kDa 4.1B was absent from 4.1B knock-out MEF cells, but 60-kDa 4.1B remained, suggesting incomplete knock-out. Although the 130-kDa isoform was predominantly located at the plasma membrane, the 60-kDa isoform was enriched in nuclei. 130-kDa-deficient 4.1B MEF cells exhibited impaired cell adhesion, spreading, and migration; they also failed to form actin stress fibers. Impaired cell spreading and stress fiber formation were rescued by re-expression of the 130-kDa 4.1B but not the 60-kDa 4.1B. Our findings document novel, isoform-selective roles for 130-kDa 4.1B in adhesion, spreading, and migration of MEF cells by affecting actin organization, giving new insight into 4.1B functions in normal tissues as well as its role in cancer. PMID:24381168

DA-9701, a new botanical gastroprokinetic agent, has potential for the management of delayed gastric emptying in Parkinson's disease if it has no central anti-dopaminergic activity. Therefore, we examined the pharmacokinetics of DA-9701 components having dopamine D2 receptor antagonizing activity, tetrahydropalmatine (THP) and tetrahydroberberine (THB), following various oral doses (80-328 mg/kg) of DA-9701. The distribution of THP and THB to the brain and/or other tissues was also evaluated after single or multiple oral administrations of DA-9701. Oral administration of DA-9701 yielded dose-proportional area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0-8 h) and maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) values for THP and THB, indicating linear pharmacokinetics (except for THB at the lowest dose). THP and THB's large tissue-to-plasma concentration ratios indicated considerable tissue distribution. High concentrations of THP and THB in the stomach and small intestine suggest an explanation for DA-9701's potent gastroprokinetic activity. The maximum concentrations of THP and THB in brain following multiple oral DA-9701 for 7 d (150 mg/kg/d) was observed at 30 min after the last oral DA-9701 treatment: 131±67.7 ng/g for THP and 6.97±4.03 ng/g for THB. Although both THP and THB pass through the blood-brain barrier, as indicated by brain-to-plasma concentration ratios greater than unity (approximately 2-4), oral administration of DA-9701 at the effective dose in humans is not expected to lead to sufficient brain concentrations to exert central dopamine D2 receptor antagonism. PMID:25747988

Background/Aims The effect of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) in Asian functional dyspepsia (FD) patients has not been well established as in Western countries. DA-9701, a novel prokinetic agent, stimulates gastric emptying and modulates visceral hypersensitivity in vivo and in human studies. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of DA-9701 with a conventional PPI in mono or combination therapy in patients with FD. Methods In this double-blind, randomized, non-inferiority trial, 389 patients diagnosed with FD using Rome III criteria were allocated among 3 groups: 30-mg DA-9701 t.i.d (means 3 times a day), 40-mg pantoprazole, and 30-mg DA-9701 t.i.d + 40-mg pantoprazole. The primary efficacy end-point was a global assessment of the patient binary response or response on a 5-Likert scale after 4 weeks. Results The global symptomatic improvement was 60.5% in the DA-9701 group, 65.6% in the pantoprazole group, and 63.5% in the DA-9701 + pantoprazole group using a 5-Likert scale at week 4 with no significant difference among 3 groups (P = 0.685). Symptom improvement measured by binary outcome was significantly achieved in each of the 3 groups, but not different among groups. Patients in all treatment groups reported significant improvement in the response rate and symptoms according to FD subtypes and dyspepsia-related quality of life (P < 0.001), but there were no significant differences among the 3 groups. Conclusions DA-9701 improves global and individual symptoms and increases dyspepsia-specific quality of life in patients with FD. The efficacy of DA-9701 monotherapy is comparable with pantoprazole and there is no additive effect with combination of DA-9701 and pantoprazole in patients with FD. PMID:26811504

DaVita's acquisition of multispecialty group HealthCare Partners hasn't come without growing pains. But the deal has put the dialysis provider in a position to go beyond kidneys to serving the whole patient. The goal of the merger, says DaVita Co-chairman and CEO Kent Thiry, left, is to prepare for a time when DaVita is expected not only to provide dialysis, but also help keep nephrology patients out of the hospital and manage their other chronic conditions. PMID:24199234

In an effort to develop effective combination treatments for use with radiation against solid tumors, the cytotoxic effects of the addition of mitomycin C or porfiromycin on treatment with Fluosol-DA/carbogen (95% O2/5% CO2) breathing and radiation in the FSaIIC tumor system were studied. In vitro mitomycin C and porfiromycin were both preferentially cytotoxic toward hypoxic FSaIIC cells. After in vivo exposure, however, the cytotoxicity of mitomycin C toward single cell tumor suspensions obtained from whole tumors was exponential over the dose range studied, but for porfiromycin a plateau in cell killing was observed. With Fluosol-DA/carbogen breathing and single dose radiation, addition of either mitomycin C or porfiromycin increased the tumor cell kill achieved at 5 Gy by approximately 1.2 and 1.0 logs, respectively. Less effect was seen with addition of the drugs at the 10 and 15 Gy radiation doses. In tumor growth delay experiments, the addition of either mitomycin C or porfiromycin to Fluosol-DA/carbogen breathing and radiation resulted in primarily an additive increase in tumor growth delay. The survival of Hoechst 33342 dye-selected tumor cell subpopulations indicated that Fluosol-DA/carbogen breathing increased the cytotoxicity of radiation (10 Gy) more in the bright cell subpopulation (4-fold) than in the dim cell subpopulation (2-fold) resulting in an overall 4-fold sparing of the dim subpopulation. Mitomycin C and porfiromycin were both more toxic toward the dim cell subpopulations. Addition of mitomycin C or porfiromycin to Fluosol-DA/carbogen breathing and radiation (10 Gy) resulted in a primarily additive effect of the drugs and radiation killing in both tumor cell subpopulations. Thus, with mitomycin C/Fluosol-DA/carbogen and radiation there was a 2-fold sparing of dim cells and with porfiromycin in the combined treatment a 1.6-fold sparing of the dim cell population. Our results indicate that treatment strategies directed against both oxic and

This work deals with the genesis and paleoenvironmental significance of relict slope deposits in Serra da Estrela, Central Portugal and is part of a wider sedimentological and dating approach. The aim is to identify what microstructures indicate frost weathering, witch mechanisms are responsible for their development and the effectiveness of frost weathering across an altitudinal profile. Our goals are to contribute to the better understanding of the morphogenetical significance of the different types of slope deposits, clarifying the role of cold environment processes and develop a chronological framework for the Late Quaternary evolution of the slope environment of the mountains of Western Iberia. Quartz grains, 0.5 mm in diameter, were collected from samples from stratified, head and debris-flow deposits. Cailleux (1942) analysis, with modifications from Gozdzik (1980), was performed allowing assessing frosting and rounding, as well as the effects of later frost weathering in vertical profiles from slope deposits. Grains were also analysed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) following Mahaney (2002). The effects of frost weathering comprise several microstructures such as breakage blocks, conchoidal fractures and fresh surfaces. Breakage blocks microstructures are the most common. Two types of frost weathering were distinguished: weathering of the P type is mainly initiated on convex fragments of grains as the result of ice segregation, and F type is linked to the volumetric expansion of ice and usually observed within concave linear microstructures. The frost action index (FAI) was estimated from the rate of microstructures from frost weathering. FAI varies between 0 and 3. The values of the sediments from the slope deposits vary between 1.2 and 2.05. This approach was for the first time applied on slope deposits from Serra da Estrela. There is a clear correlation between deposits in weathering type. Samples that display intensive physical weathering in

The human being has always been concerned with the preservation of memory, of cultural heritage. Only now he started to protect its natural heritage and the immediate environment. It is time to learn how to protect the Earth's past and, through this protection and learn to know it. This memory comes before the human memory. It is a new asset: the geological heritage, a book written long before our appearance on the Planet (...)"(IPHAN, 2014). Since the XXth century, Brazilian geographers (GUERRA, 1980; AB'SABER, 2003 and others) dedicated to carry out research on the relationship of geographical knowledge between the environment and society. On the other hand, Brazil is a signatory of the Convention for the Protection of the World Heritage Cultural and Natural (UNESCO, 1972), where the nations recognize to keep under their responsibility the conservation, to the rest of humanity and future generations, goods of exceptional value situated within its territorial limits, considered as World Heritage. Under this perspective, it is proposed here a survey on the environmental impacts, resulting from the human activities that directly or indirectly affect the health, safety and welfare of the population; social and economic activities; the biota; the aesthetic and sanitary conditions of the environment; the quality of the environment (CONAMA Resolution 001/86) - and resulting geotourism practiced on trails - paths for pedestrians, cyclists and animals, existing in the protected area of the Serra da Bocaina National Park, in Rio de Janeiro State, such as unplanned use, erosive features, presence of litter, graffiti and burned, degraded areas on the trails indicating the need for recovery (drainage, etc.). This survey is based on research work of the environmental degradation and analysis undertaken by the Laboratory of Environmental Geomorphology and Soils Degradation (LAGESOLOS / UFRJ) in the area, in order to contribute to the geoconservation, so that the encountered

The recurrence of forest fires is degrading an important part of the Portuguese natural heritage namely its forest and soils. In this paper we present the case study of Cabeço da Vaca (Cabreira Mountain-northwest Portugal), where in recent decades, particularly in the 70s, there was a significant increase in the number of forest fires and in the areas scorched annually. There is thus a turning point between a period when fire was an integral part of the ecosystems and when fire has become a serious threat to woodland management and development (Bento Gonçalves, 2006). Starting with a thorough characterization of forest fires and based on the mapping of scorched areas between 1990 and 2006, we have proceeded to identify the annual pattern of maximum recurrence and the definition of the return interval in Cabeço da Vaca, producing thus a valuable document to support management and forestry development in general. PMID:20576260

Beginning from the XV century, mechanical materialism underwent an evolution in "biological mechanics" within the scientific doctrine. Among the greatest exponents of this new current there were two Italian men, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Girolamo da Acquapendente (1533-1619). By the trend given by Leonardo, the myology, instead of being a static science, took a dynamic meaning and valence. Later, Fabrizi resumed and investigated the subject above all in its less known expression, elaborating an original theory. With Acquapendente, the anatomy lost its merely descriptive pecularity and evolved in analysis of the structure in connection with the function. Moreover, he opposed the syllogism against the mechanic language and the mathematical formulation. A new scientific way will be afterwards characterized by Galileo Galilei in the field of the physics and by Giovanni Alfonso Borrelli in the biology. PMID:11640090

The radiative damping of acoustic and MHD waves that propagate through white dwarf photospheric layers is studied, and other damping processes that may be important for the propagation of the MHD waves are calculated. The amount of energy remaining after the damping processes have occurred in different types of waves is estimated. The results show that lower acoustic fluxes should be expected in layered DA and homogeneous DB white dwarfs than had previously been estimated. Acoustic emission manifests itself in an enhancement of the quadrupole term, but this term may become comparable to or even lower than the dipole term for cool white dwarfs. Energy carried by the acoustic waves is significantly dissipated in deep photospheric layers, mainly because of radiative damping. Acoustically heated corona cannot exist around DA and DB white dwarfs in a range T(eff) = 10,000-30,000 K and for log g = 7 and 8. However, relatively hot and massive white dwarfs could be exceptions.

In this study, concentrations of several heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cr, and Cd) were measured in Katelysia hiantina, Anomalocardia squamosa, Perna viridis, Anadara antiquata, Paphia undulata, and Sanguinolaria diphos bivalve mollusks from Da-Peng Bay Lagoon near the south-southwestern coast of Taiwan. The metal pollution index (MPI) values were highest and lowest in winter and autumn, respectively. The MPI value in the viscera of P. viridis was higher than in muscles. In all four seasons, Zn concentrations in viscera and muscles of P. viridis were higher than for other metals. The capacities of A. squamosa to accumulate the concentrations of Cu, Ni, and Cr and of A. antiquata to accumulate concentrations of Pb, Zn, and Cd were significant. Analytical results suggested that A. squamosa and A. antiquata may be used as bioindicators for monitoring Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb, Zn, and Cd heavy-metal pollution in Da-Peng Bay Lagoon throughout the year. PMID:24555680

The experience of using the dynamic atlas of the experimental data and mathematical models of their description in the problems of adjusting parametric models of observable values depending on kinematic variables is presented. The functional possibilities of an image of a large number of experimental data and the models describing them are shown by examples of data and models of observable values determined by the amplitudes of elastic scattering of hadrons. The Internet implementation of an interactive tool DaMoScope and its interface with the experimental data and codes of adjusted parametric models with the parameters of the best description of data are schematically shown. The DaMoScope codes are freely available.

Fluosol-DA 20%, a synthetic perfluorocarbon emulsion first developed as a blood substitute, is currently being investigated as a radiation sensitizer. Theoretically, an oxygen-carrying perfluorocarbon emulsion combined with oxygen inhalation might be able to increase tumor response by decreasing the relative proportion of hypoxic tumor cells. Twenty-one patients with advanced head and neck malignancies receiving primary radiation therapy were evaluated for treatment-related toxicity. Mucosal reactions and weight loss during treatment in the group of patients who received the perfluorocarbon emulsion and the group who did not were comparable. Late sequelae appeared comparable. No patient in either group who completed radiation therapy required an interruption of the treatment course. We conclude that Fluosol-DA 20% is a tolerated adjunct to primary radiation therapy. Further study is needed to determine whether the agent will improve local/regional tumor control.

This study was designed to investigate dopaminergic mechanisms in human vasculature using the selective vascular dopamine receptor agonist fenoldopam in vivo and in vitro. In vivo, forearm blood flow was measured plethysmographically and in vitro isolated rings of human blood vessels from a variety of sites were used for tissue bath studies. Intra-arterial fenoldopam markedly increased forearm blood flow, this effect was antagonised by (R) sulpiride, a vascular dopamine (DA1) antagonist, but not by metoclopramide, a neuronal (DA2) antagonist, or by guanethidine, an adrenergic neurone blocking agent. In vitro, fenoldopam relaxed preconstricted human renal, mesenteric and lumbar arteries, but not saphenous vein in a concentration dependent manner. (RS) sulpiride and SCH 23390 competitively antagonised this effect. These studies demonstrate the presence of a vasodilatory vascular dopamine receptor in man both in vivo and in vitro. PMID:2878679

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ordered-subset expectation maximization reconstruction algorithm with scatter correction and attenuation correction based on computed tomography maps and to find out the optimum number of subsets and iterations upon image quality for 123I-DaTSCAN neuroimaging. We retrospectively studied SPECT/CT scans of 44 consecutive patients with clinical indications of Parkinson's disease. Images were reconstructed with use of two methods: filtered back projection and OSEM. Image quality was assessed by: striatal binding indices as a measure of contrast and coefficients of variation as a measure of noise. The quality of DaTSCAN images reconstructed with the use of OSEM (4iter/10subs) with reconstruction corrections was superior to that provided by the commonly applied FBP.

The structure of the gene encoding the 14.5 kDa subunit of the human RNA polymerase II (or B) has been elucidated. The gene consists of six exons, ranging from 52 to over 101 bp, interspaced with five introns ranging from 84 to 246 bp. It is transcribed into three major RNA species, present at low abundance in exponentially growing HeLa cells. The corresponding messenger RNAs contain the same open reading frame encoding a 125 amino acid residue protein, with a calculated molecular weight of 14,523 Da. This protein (named hRPB14.5) shares strong homologies with the homologous polymerase subunits encoded by the Drosophila (RpII15) and yeast (RPB9) genes. Cysteines characteristic of two zinc fingers are conserved in all three corresponding sequences and, like the yeast protein, the hRPB14.5 subunit exhibits zinc-binding activity. Images PMID:8265347

The experience of using the dynamic atlas of the experimental data and mathematical models of their description in the problems of adjusting parametric models of observable values depending on kinematic variables is presented. The functional possibilities of an image of a large number of experimental data and the models describing them are shown by examples of data and models of observable values determined by the amplitudes of elastic scattering of hadrons. The Internet implementation of an interactive tool DaMoScope and its interface with the experimental data and codes of adjusted parametric models with the parameters of the best description of data are schematically shown. The DaMoScope codes are freely available.

A couple of small paintings on wood, property of the National Gallery of Bologna and attributed to Gentile da Fabriano, have been analyzed by means of different diagnostic non-destructive techniques in order to have a complete characterization of their conservation state. Adopted techniques are X-ray fluorescence, infrared reflection imaging, radiography and computed tomography (CT). In this work we will focus mainly on results obtained with CT, which was carried out with a CT system developed by the authors at the Physics Department of the University of Bologna. The CT system has already been used for the full-volume examination of archaeological samples and works of art and mainly consists of a cone-beam X-ray source, a rotational stage for sample manipulation and a Gd 2O 2S:Tb scintillator screen, optically coupled to a CCD camera. The CT investigation has given us important information on the conservation state of the two tables and on the spatial distribution of the different materials and pigments, besides providing an evidence of a particular technique used by the painter for outlining the figures of the Saint Apostles.

Many factors affect space remote sensor imaging, causing image degradation of contrast and resolution decreasing, which cannot be solved neither by improving resolution of imaging components nor processing of images. In order to meet the imaging requirement of space remote sensor, image stabilization system should be included. In this paper, with a combining method of micro-mechanical and digital image stabilization, an image stabilization system based on DaVinci technology is designed, including imaging and sensing unit, operating and controlling unit and fast steering mirror unit, using TI TMS320DM6446 as the main processor of the image stabilization system, which performs the function of focal plane controlling, image acquisition, motion vector estimating, digital image stabilization operating, fast steering mirror controlling and image outputting. The workflow is as followings: first, through optical system, ground scene is imaged by imaging focal planes. Short exposure images acquired by imaging focal plane are transferred as series to the unit of computing and controlling. Then, inter-frame motion vector is computed from images according to gray projection algorithm, and employed as inputs with image series to do iterative back projection. In this way the final picture is obtained. Meanwhile, the control value obtained from the inter-frame motion vector is sent to the fast steering mirror unit, making compensation to damp vibrations. The results of experiments demonstrate that the image stabilization system improves the imaging performance of space remote sensor.

Observations are reported which refine the binary ephemeris of the Feige 24 system, which contains a peculiar hot DA white dwarf and an M dwarf with an atmosphere illuminated by extreme ultraviolet radiation from the white dwarf. With the new ephemeris and a set of IUE high-dispersion spectra, showing phase-dependent redshifted C IV, N V, and Si IV resonance lines, the orbital velocity, and hence the mass (0.54 + or {minus} 0.20 solar masses), and the gravitational redshift of the white dwarf (14.1 + or {minus} 5.2 km/s) are determined independently. It is shown that the measured Einstein redshift is consistent with an estimated radius for the white dwarf obtained from a model atmosphere solid angle and a parallax measurement. This radius is twice the Hamada-Salpeter radius for the given mass and offers a prospect to investigate the presence of a massive hydrogen envelope in that white dwarf star. 27 refs.

The problems of nonradiative heating of outer atmospheric layers and p-mode oscillations in white dwarfs caused by acoustic waves generated in convective zones are discussed. These effects have been studied by calculating the cutoff periods for adiabatic and isothermal waves propagating in atmospheres of DA and DB stars with Teff greater than or equal 20,000 K and log g = 6-9. The obtained cutoff periods are approximately bounded by 0.01 and 40 sec for high- and low-gravity white dwarfs, respectively. Expected amplitudes of p-mode oscillations corresponding to trapped acoustic waves with small angular wave numbers are estimated, indicating that the amplitudes could be observed as Doppler shifts of spectral lines which might be detectable if adequate spectral resolution were available. The luminosity variations corresponding to these amplitudes are unlikely to be observable when all damping processes are accounted for. Results also indicate that the present theory of convection predicts some irregularities in the behavior of physical parameters.

The 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO), previously known as the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, is expressed in the injured brain. It has become known as an imaging marker of "neuroinflammation" indicating active disease, and is best interpreted as a nondiagnostic biomarker and disease staging tool that refers to histopathology rather than disease etiology. The therapeutic potential of TSPO as a drug target is mostly based on the understanding that it is an outer mitochondrial membrane protein required for the translocation of cholesterol, which thus regulates the rate of steroid synthesis. This pivotal role together with the evolutionary conservation of TSPO has underpinned the belief that any loss or mutation of TSPO should be associated with significant physiological deficits or be outright incompatible with life. However, against prediction, full Tspo knockout mice are viable and across their lifespan do not show the phenotype expected if cholesterol transport and steroid synthesis were significantly impaired. Thus, the "translocation" function of TSPO remains to be better substantiated. Here, we discuss the literature before and after the introduction of the new nomenclature for TSPO and review some of the newer findings. In light of the controversy surrounding the function of TSPO, we emphasize the continued importance of identifying compounds with confirmed selectivity and suggest that TSPO expression is analyzed within specific disease contexts rather than merely equated with the reified concept of "neuroinflammation." PMID:25345894

Arguably, the best method for determining the effective temperature (Teff) and surface gravity (log g) of a DA white dwarf is by fitting the Hydrogen Lyman and Balmer absorption features. However, as has been shown for white dwarfs with Teff>50,000K, the calculated value from the Lyman and Balmer lines are discrepant, which worsens with increasing temperature. Many different solutions have been suggested, ranging from the input physics used to calculate the models, to interstellar reddening. We will focus on the former, and consider three variables. The first is the atomic data used, namely the number of transitions included in line blanketing treatments and the photoionization cross sections. The second is the stark broadening treatment used to synthesise the Lyman and Balmer line profiles, namely the calculations performed by Lemke (1997) and Tremblay & Bergeron (2009). Finally, the third is the atmospheric content. The model grids are calculated with a pure H composition, and a metal polluted composition using the abundances of Preval et al. (2013). We present the preliminary results of our analysis, whereby we have determined the Teff for a small selection of white dwarfs. We plan to extend our analysis by allowing metallicity to vary in future model grids.

We present improved calculations for the Stark broadening of hydrogen lines in dense plasmas typical of white dwarf atmospheres. Our new model is based on the unified theory of Stark broadening from Vidal, Cooper, and Smith. For the first time, we account for the nonideal effects in a consistent way directly inside the line profile calculations. The Hummer and Mihalas theory is used to describe the nonideal effects due to perturbations on the absorber from protons and electrons. We use a truncation of the electric microfield distribution in the quasi-static proton broadening to take into account the fact that high electric microfields dissociate the upper state of a transition. This approach represents a significant improvement over previous calculations that relied on the use of an ad hoc parameter to mimic these nonideal effects. We obtain the first model spectra with line profiles that are consistent with the equation of state. We revisit the properties of DA stars in the range 40,000 K >T {sub eff}> 13,000 K by analyzing the optical spectra with our improved models. The updated atmospheric parameters are shown to differ substantially from those published in previous studies, with a mean mass shifted by +0.034 M {sub sun}. We also show that these revised atmospheric parameters yield absolute visual magnitudes that remain in excellent agreement with trigonometric parallax measurements.

Photometric calibration uncertainties are the dominant source of error in current type Ia supernova dark energy studies, and other forefront cosmology efforts, e.g., photo-redshifts for weak lensing mass tomography. Modern 'all-sky' surveys require a network of calibration stars with 1) known SEDs (to properly and unambiguously account for filter differences), and 2) that are on a common photometric zero-point scale. We use the HST to establish this essential network of faint (16-20th mag) spectrophotometric standards, by eliminating the time-variable Earth's atmosphere, and by exploiting the well-understood energy distributions of DA white dwarfs. We present UVOIR data from cycle 20, early data from cycle 22, and high S/N ground-based spectroscopy from a variety of large aperture facilities. Our data allows us to simultaneously determine temperature, log(g) and any applicable reddening. This allows our sample to be used as flux standards at wavelengths well beyond the range of HST, and in any arbitrary passband. This sample will constitute the gold-standard with which to directly calibrate, and cross-validate the survey data products. We demonstrate sub-percent precision between the different objects. Our program is critical to extending the precision photometric heritage from HST to the benefit of essentially all existing and upcoming surveys, standardizes (spectro)photometry across observatories and facilities, and directly addresses one of the current barriers to understanding the nature of dark energy.

Rhubarb (Rheum tanguticum; da-huang in Chinese medicine) is a herbal medicine that has been used widely for managing fever and removing toxicity. In this study, we investigated how rhubarb inhibits influenza virus during the early stage of the infectious cycle using different functional assays. A non-toxic ethanolic extract of rhubarb (Rex) inhibited several H1N1 subtypes of influenza A viruses in Madin–Darby canine kidney cells, including strains that are clinically resistant to oseltamivir. Time course analysis of Rex addition showed that viral entry was one of the steps that was inhibited by Rex. We also confirmed that Rex effectively inhibited viral attachment and penetration into the host cells. The inhibition of red blood cell haemolysis and cell–cell fusion by Rex suggests that Rex may block haemagglutinin-mediated fusion (virus–endosome fusion) during the fusion/uncoating step. Rex has the capacity to inhibit influenza viruses by blocking viral endocytosis. Thus, rhubarb might provide an alternative therapeutic approach when resistant viruses become more prevalent. PMID:27302738

Previous studies using monoclonal antibody (mAb) 4C9 specific for a 32 kDa antigen (p32) of Theileria parva demonstrated expression of the antigen on the surface of the sporozoite, making it a potential antigen for sporozoite neutralization. A full-length cDNA encoding the major merozoite/piroplasm surface antigen (mMPSA) of T. parva was cloned and expressed in bacteria. The expressed product reacted strongly with mAb 4C9, demonstrating identity between the p32 and mMPSA of T. parva. Using immunoblot analysis and immunoelectron microscopy with mAb 4C9 it was shown that the mMPSA is a major antigen of the merozoite and piroplasm at the cell surface, while lower levels of antigen are expressed in the sporozoite and schizont stages. Upregulation of the mMPSA occurs at merogony and can be induced by culturing schizont-infected lymphocytes at 42 degrees C. Recombinant mMPSA of T. parva induced high titres of specific antibodies in cattle but failed to confer protection against a T. parva sporozoite stabilate challenge. The pre-challenge sera also failed to neutralize infectivity of sporozoites in an in vitro assay. Possible reasons for the lack of parasite neutralization in vivo and in vitro are discussed. PMID:10874718

Studies of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) biosynthesis in microalgae are of great importance for many reasons, including the production of biofuel and variable omega 3-long chain PUFAs. The elucidation of the PUFA biosynthesis pathway is necessary for bioengineering to increase or decrease PUFA content in certain microalgae. In this study, we identified the PUFA synthesis pathway in the oleaginous marine diatom, Fistulifera sp. strain JPCC DA0580, a promising candidate for biodiesel production. The data revealed not only the presence of the desaturases and elongases involved in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) synthesis, but also the unexpected localization of ω3-desaturase expression in the chloroplast. This suggests that this microalga might perform the final step of EPA synthesis in the chloroplast and not in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) like other diatoms. The detailed fatty acid profile suggests that the EPA was synthesized only through the ω6-pathway in this strain, which was also different from other diatoms. Finally, the transcriptome analysis demonstrated an overall down-regulation of desaturases and elongases over incubation time. These genetic features might explain the decrease of PUFA percentage over incubation time in this strain. The important insights into metabolite synthesis acquired here will be useful for future metabolic engineering to control PUFA content in this diatom. PMID:24335525

The distribution of vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding protein (28 kDa calbindin) was investigated in cat lumbar and sacral spinal cord segments (L1-S3). We observed specific multi-dimensional distributions over the spinal segments for small immunopositive cells in Rexed laminae II-III and medium-to-large cells of varying morphology in lamina I and laminae V-VIII. The small neurons in laminae II-III were clustered into the columns along the dorsal horn curvature. The medium-to-large cells were grouped into four assemblages that were located in (1) the most lateral region of lamina VII at the L1-L4 level; (2) the laminae IV-V boundary at the L5-L7 level; (3) the lamina VII dorsal border at the L5-L7 level; and (4) the lamina VIII at the L5-S3 level. The data obtained suggest that the morphological and physiological heterogeneity of calbindin immunolabeling cells formed morpho-functional clusters over the gray matter. A significant portion of the lumbosacral enlargement had immunopositive neurons within all Rexed laminae, suggesting an important functional role within and among the spinal networks that control hindlimb movements. PMID:26858610

The Amazon tree Aniba rosaeodora Ducke (rosewood) provides an essential oil valuable for the perfume industry, but after decades of predatory extraction it is at risk of extinction. The extraction of the essential oil from wood implies the cutting of the tree, and then the study of oil extracted from the leaves is important as a sustainable alternative. The goal of this study was to test the applicability of Raman spectroscopy and Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) as means to classify the essential oil extracted from different parties (wood, leaves and branches) of the Brazilian tree A. rosaeodora. For the development of classification models, the Raman spectra were split into two sets: training and test. The value of the limit that separates the classes was calculated based on the distribution of samples of training. This value was calculated in a manner that the classes are divided with a lower probability of incorrect classification for future estimates. The best model presented sensitivity and specificity of 100%, predictive accuracy and efficiency of 100%. These results give an overall vision of the behavior of the model, but do not give information about individual samples; in this case, the confidence interval for each sample of classification was also calculated using the resampling bootstrap technique. The methodology developed have the potential to be an alternative for standard procedures used for oil analysis and it can be employed as screening method, since it is fast, non-destructive and robust. PMID:24209345

Rhubarb (Rheum tanguticum; da-huang in Chinese medicine) is a herbal medicine that has been used widely for managing fever and removing toxicity. In this study, we investigated how rhubarb inhibits influenza virus during the early stage of the infectious cycle using different functional assays. A non-toxic ethanolic extract of rhubarb (Rex) inhibited several H1N1 subtypes of influenza A viruses in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, including strains that are clinically resistant to oseltamivir. Time course analysis of Rex addition showed that viral entry was one of the steps that was inhibited by Rex. We also confirmed that Rex effectively inhibited viral attachment and penetration into the host cells. The inhibition of red blood cell haemolysis and cell-cell fusion by Rex suggests that Rex may block haemagglutinin-mediated fusion (virus-endosome fusion) during the fusion/uncoating step. Rex has the capacity to inhibit influenza viruses by blocking viral endocytosis. Thus, rhubarb might provide an alternative therapeutic approach when resistant viruses become more prevalent. PMID:27302738

A fibrinolytic enzyme of the mushroom, Schizophyllum commune was purified with chromatographic methods, including a DEAE-Sephadex A-50 ion-exchange column and gel filtrations with Sephadex G-75 and Sephadex G-50 columns. The analysis of fibrin-zymography and SDS-PAGE showed that the enzyme was a monomeric subunit that was estimated to be approximately 17 kDa in size. The fibrinolytic activity of the enzyme in plasminogen-rich and plasminogen-free fibrin plates was 1.25 and 0.44 U/ml, respectively. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified enzyme was identified as HYNIXNSWSSFID, which was highly distinguished from known fibrinolytic enzymes. The relative activity of the purified enzyme with an addition of 5 mM EDTA, Phosphoramidon, and Bestatin was about 76, 64, and 52%, respectively, indicating that it is a metalloprotease. The optimum temperature for the purified enzyme was approximately 45°C, and over 87% of the enzymatic activity was maintained as a stable state in a pH range from 4.0 to 6.0. Therefore, our results suggest that the potential thrombolytic agent from S. commune is a unique type of fibrinolytic enzyme. PMID:21221943

For over 15 years, the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), recently named translocator protein 18kDa (TSPO) has been studied as a biomarker of reactive gliosis and inflammation associated with a variety of neuropathological conditions. Early studies documented that in the brain parenchyma, TSPO is exclusively localized in glial cells. Under normal physiological conditions, TSPO levels are low in the brain neuropil but they markedly increase at sites of brain injury and inflammation making it uniquely suited for assessing active gliosis. This research has generated significant efforts from multiple research groups throughout the world to apply TSPO as a marker of “active” brain pathology using in vivo imaging modalities such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in experimental animals and humans. Further, in the last few years, there has been an increased interest in understanding the molecular and cellular function(s) of TSPO in glial cells. The latest evidence suggests that TSPO may not only serve as a biomarker of active brain disease but also the use of TSPO-specific ligands may have therapeutic implications in brain injury and repair. This review presents an overview of the history and function of TSPO focusing on studies related to its use as a sensor of active brain disease in experimental animals and in human studies. PMID:18374421

In the treasure of Ayurvĕdic literature, many texts are missing or partially available. Only references or few verses from many such texts are mentioned in later texts. Unfortunately, a large number of Ayurvĕdic texts are unexplored till today are likely to exist in palm-leaf manuscripts, which are decaying or undergoing permanent annihilation. As such many unique and valuable information contained in these texts are being lost. Though several Institutions have taken up work on literary Research, only few texts have been published during past decades. The present paper highlights the salient features of the text 'Cikitsărnava' authored by Viśvanăth Sena of 16th century of Orissa. Though his text on Pathyăpathya has already been published, which has got a place in the pages of history of Ayurvĕda, a very little is known about this important text on therapeutics. Various aspects of this text and its author have been discussed to bring it in to the knowledge of fraternity of Ayurvedic physicians and Sanskrit scholars. PMID:17333660

Thermophilic and alkaliphilic lipases are meeting a growing global attention as their increased importance in several industrial fields. Over 23 bacterial strains, novel strain with high lipolytic activity was isolated from Southern Sinai, Egypt, and it was identified as Geobacillus thermoleovorans DA2 using 16S rRNA as well as morphological and biochemical features. The lipase was produced in presence of fatty restaurant wastes as an inducing substrate. The optimized conditions for lipase production were recorded to be temperature 60°C, pH 10, and incubation time for 48 hrs. Enzymatic production increased when the organism was grown in a medium containing galactose as carbon source and ammonium phosphate as nitrogen source at concentrations of 1 and 0.5% (w/v), respectively. Moreover, the optimum conditions for lipase production such as substrate concentration, inoculum size, and agitation rate were found to be 10% (w/v), 4% (v/v), and 120 rpm, respectively. The TA lipase with Triton X-100 had the best degreasing agent by lowering the total lipid content to 2.6% as compared to kerosene (7.5%) or the sole crude enzyme (8.9%). It can be concluded that the chemical leather process can be substituted with TA lipase for boosting the quality of leather and reducing the environmental hazards. PMID:26881066

Gills of Maria-da-toca Hypleurochilus fissicornis collected at Ponta do Sambaqui-Florianópolis island-Brazil, were analyzed to describe the histopathology caused by metacercaria of Bucephalus margaritae. Gills were submitted to the routine histological techniques for embedding in paraffin and permanent mounting in Balsam and stereoscopic analysis. Metacercariae showed a branchial infection site pattern for encystations. The branchial infection site pattern is half-basalward in the primary branchial filament with amplitude of the infection of 1-3 metacercaria. Cysts occurred within branchial abductor muscle and cartilaginous and osseous tissues of the gills. Each metacercariae had a contentional hyaline parasitic capsule and melanin-like pigmentation. The half-apicalward region of the primary branchial filaments showed several dysplasia degrees, cartilage and osseous degeneration (pyknosis), thrombosis and immune exudated cells (mainly lymphocytes). Cytopathologies as thickening of the epithelium lining of the secondary branchial filaments were a response of the branchial infection site pattern of the metacercaria. Interlamellar obliteration and fusion of the lamellae due to the hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the epithelial lining as well as chloride cells occurred. Pyknosis of pillar cells and epithelial lining cells from the secondary branchial filaments were also present. Bucephalosis in H. fissicornis gills is no-hemorrhagic and no-fatal branchitis, but could compromises the gill functions and could permits the secondary opportunistic infections. PMID:27413297

We measure apparent velocities (v app) of the Hα and Hβ Balmer line cores for 449 non-binary thin disk normal DA white dwarfs (WDs) using optical spectra taken for the European Southern Observatory SN Ia progenitor survey (SPY). Assuming these WDs are nearby and comoving, we correct our velocities to the local standard of rest so that the remaining stellar motions are random. By averaging over the sample, we are left with the mean gravitational redshift, [vg]: we find [vg] = [vapp] = 32.57 ± 1.17 km s-1. Using the mass-radius relation from evolutionary models, this translates to a mean mass of 0.647+0.013 -0.014 Msun. We interpret this as the mean mass for all DAs. Our results are in agreement with previous gravitational redshift studies but are significantly higher than all previous spectroscopic determinations except the recent findings of Tremblay & Bergeron. Since the gravitational redshift method is independent of surface gravity from atmosphere models, we investigate the mean mass of DAs with spectroscopic T eff both above and below 12,000 K fits to line profiles give a rapid increase in the mean mass with decreasing Teff. Our results are consistent with no significant change in mean mass: [M]hot = 0.640 ± 0.014 M⊙ and [M]cool = 0.686+0.035 -0.039 M⊙.

Mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis plays a key role in the regulation of aerobic metabolism and cell survival1, but the molecular identity of the Ca2+ channel, the mitochondrial calcium uniporter2, was still unknown. We have identified in silico a protein (denominated MCU) that shares tissue distribution with MICU1, a recently characterized uniporter regulator3, coexists with uniporter activity in phylogeny and includes two trasmembrane domains in the sequence. siRNA silencing of MCU in HeLa cells drastically reduced mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake. MCU overexpression doubled the [Ca2+]mt rise evoked by IP3-generating agonists, thus significantly buffering the cytosolic elevation. The purified MCU protein exhibited channel activity in planar lipid bilayers, with electrophysiological properties and inhibitor sensitivity of the uniporter. A mutant MCU, in which two negatively-charged residues of the putative pore forming region were replaced, had no channel activity and reduced agonist-dependent [Ca2+]mt transients when overexpressed in HeLa cells. Overall, these data demonstrate that the identified 40 kDa protein is the channel responsible for Ruthenium Red-sensitive mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, thus providing molecular basis for this process of utmost physiological and pathological relevance. PMID:21685888

The standard low lithotomic position, used during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), with prolonged positioning in stirrups together with steep Trendelenburg may expose the patient to neurapraxia phenomena of the lower limbs and can rarely be used in patients with problems of hip abduction. To overcome these hurdles, we evaluated the clinical benefits of "side docking" (SD) of the da Vinci(®) robotic system in comparison to "traditional docking" (TD). A cohort of 120 patients submitted to RARP were prospectively randomized into two groups by docking approach: SD with the patient supine with lower limbs slightly abducted on the operating table, and TD docking time, intraoperative number of collisions between the robotic arms and postoperative neurological problems in the lower limbs were noted. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze outcomes. Docking time was shorter for the SD group [SD: median 13 min (range 10-18); TD: median 21 min (range 15-34)]. None in the SD group and six of 60 patients (10%) in the TD group suffered from temporary (<30 days) unilateral neurological deficits of the lower limbs. In both groups no collisions between the robotic arms occurred. The SD approach is technically feasible. It does not cause collisions between the robotic arms, and is a reliable method for reducing the setup time of RARP. The supine position of the patient may prevent neurological complications of the lower limbs. Based on these results, SD has become the standard docking technique used by our department. PMID:26531205

The setpoints for safety-related equipment are affected by many sources of an uncertainty. ANSI/ISA-S67.04.01-2000 [1] and ISA-RP6 7.04.02-2000 [2] suggested the statistical approaches for ensuring that the safety-related instrument setpoints were established and maintained within the technical specification limits [3]. However, Jang et al. [4] indicated that the preceding methodologies for a setpoint drift analysis might be insufficient to manage a setpoint drift on an instrumentation device and proposed new statistical analysis procedures for the management of a setpoint drift, based on the plant specific as-found/as-left data. Although IHPA (Instrument History Performance Analysis) is a widely known commercial software package to analyze an instrument setpoint drift, several steps in the new procedure cannot be performed by using it because it is based on the statistical approaches suggested in the ANSI/ISA-S67.04.01 -2000 [1] and ISA-RP67.04.02-2000 [2], In this paper we present a software package (SeDA: Setpoint Drift Analysis) that implements new methodologies, and which is easy to use, as it is accompanied by powerful graphical tools. (authors)

Minas Gerais is the major coffee-producing state of Brazil, with 28% of its production coming from the region of Zona da Mata. Four major species of root-knot nematode attacking coffee (Meloidogyne incognita, M. paranaensis, M. coffeicola, and M. exigua) have been reported from Brazil. To determine the variability in Meloidogyne spp. occurring in that region, 57 populations from 20 localities were evaluated for morphological, enzymatic, and physiological characteristics. According to the perineal pattern, all the populations were identified as M. exigua; however populations from the municipality of São João do Manhuaçu exhibited patterns very similar to M. arenaria. The identity of all the populations was confirmed by the phenotypes of esterase, malate dehydrogenase, superoxide dismutase, and glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase. Thirteen populations (22.8%) showed the typical one-band (E1) esterase phenotype, whereas the others (77.2%) had a novel two-band phenotype (E2). No intraspecies variability was found in any population. All populations were able to reproduce on tomato, pepper, beans, cacao, and soybean. Reproduction was greater on tomato and pepper than on coffee seedlings, the susceptible standard. PMID:19262880

NF-κB is a major transcription factor that mediates a number of cellular signaling pathways. Crystal structure analysis gives an incomplete picture of the behavior of the protein, particularly in the free state; free monomers or dimers of NF-κB have never been crystallized. NMR analysis gives insights into the structure and dynamics of the protein in solution, but a necessary first step is the assignment of resonances. The size of the heterodimer of the Rel homology regions of the NF-κB monomers p65 and p50 (72 kDa) prohibits the straightforward use of triple-resonance spectroscopy to obtain the assignments. However, the dynamic nature of the free heterodimer, in particular the independence of the DNA-binding and dimerization domains of each monomer, allows the assignments made on differentially labeled smaller domains to be mapped successfully onto the spectrum of the larger full-length RHR. Problematic areas such as the p65 nuclear localization sequence, which is disordered in the free protein, can be approached by residue-specific labeling and comparison with previously-published spectra of a short peptide with the same sequence. Overall, this NMR analysis of NF-κB has given valuable insights into the highly dynamic nature of the free state, which is likely to play an important role in the functional cycle of NF-κB in the cell. PMID:26647230

Few sites have been well sampled for bats, and samplings in islands are even scarcer. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were: (1) to list the bat species of Ilha da Marambaia; (2) to compare richness, abundance and biomass of bat guilds found there; (3) to analyse abundance patterns of bat species; and (4) to compare richness, abundance and composition of the bat fauna among different kinds of environment. To capture bats we used mist nets set in five different environments, totalising 3559.2 net-hours, during 37 nights between October 2006 and August 2008. A total of 1,133 captures were accomplished, comprising 34 species from five families. The most abundant species was Molossus molossus. Frugivorous bats exhibited higher richness, abundance and biomass if compared to other guilds. Most species (N = 22) exhibited abundances between 1 to 10% of all captures. Sixteen species were restricted to just one of the environments sampled. The high richness may be attributed to sampling carried out in several environments, and to the capture of insectivorous species over water bodies. PMID:20730337

Selenoproteins mediate much of the cancer-preventive properties of the essential nutrient selenium, but some of these proteins have been shown to also have cancer-promoting effects. We examined the contributions of the 15kDa selenoprotein (Sep15) and thioredoxin reductase 1 (TR1) to cancer development. Targeted down-regulation of either gene inhibited anchorage-dependent and anchorage-independent growth and formation of experimental metastases of mouse colon carcinoma CT26 cells. Surprisingly, combined deficiency of Sep15 and TR1 reversed the anti-cancer effects observed with down-regulation of each single gene. We found that inflammation-related genes regulated by Stat-1, especially interferon-γ-regulated guanylate-binding proteins, were highly elevated in Sep15-deficient, but not in TR1-deficient cells. Interestingly, components of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway were up-regulated in cells lacking both TR1 and Sep15. These results suggest that Sep15 and TR1 participate in interfering regulatory pathways in colon cancer cells. Considering the variable expression levels of Sep15 and TR1 found within the human population, our results provide insights into new roles of selenoproteins in cancer. PMID:25886253

The construction of the Faraday Cup portion of the SWIE instrument on the Wind spacecraft, participation in Mission Operations, and Data Analysis (MO and DA) of observations of the solar wind has been supported by a sequence of grants. This 'final' Report represents work done on Mission Operations and Data Analysis for the Faraday Cup portion of the SWE. The work reported here was supported under NASA Grant NAG5-7359 (OSP 6701100) from June 1998 to October 2001. It should be noted that this work is continuing under NASA Grant NAG-10915, and therefore this report is 'final' only in the sense that the Grant has changed its number; a future report will cover the entire period of work. We have two types of obligations under these contracts: (1) To provide and assure the validity of "Key Parameters" which describe the basic properties of the solar wind on a daily basis. We have provided our 92 second observations daily via plots and parameters available from our Web site: http://web.mit.edu/space/www/wind/wind.html (2). To carry out scientific studies based on our observations. To document the extent of our research, we are including below a list of publications and presentations related to this project. The observations from Wind have made a major contribution to the study of the solar wind, and have every indication of continuing to do so.

Chimeric avidin (ChiAVD) is a product of rational protein engineering remarkably resistant to heat and harsh conditions. In quest of the fundamentals behind factors affecting stability we have elucidated the solution NMR spectroscopic structure of the biotin–bound form of ChiAVD and characterized the protein dynamics through 15N relaxation and hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange of this and the biotin–free form. To surmount the challenges arising from the very large size of the protein for NMR spectroscopy, we took advantage of its high thermostability. Conventional triple resonance experiments for fully protonated proteins combined with methyl–detection optimized experiments acquired at 58°C were adequate for the structure determination of this 56 kDa protein. The model–free parameters derived from the 15N relaxation data reveal a remarkably rigid protein at 58°C in both the biotin–bound and the free forms. The H/D exchange experiments indicate a notable increase in hydrogen protection upon biotin binding. PMID:24959850

A series of studies were undertaken to assess the effect of oral fenoldopam, a specific DA1 dopamine receptor agonist on blood pressure and renal function in patients with mild essential hypertension. Six patients with essential hypertension were entered into a dose-ranging study and received either placebo, 25, 50 or 100 mg fenoldopam. A significant, dose-related reduction in diastolic blood pressure, and increase in heart rate was demonstrated (both P less than 0.05), maximal at 45 min to 1 h. Fenoldopam increased plasma renin activity. In a double-blind study, seven patients received a single dose of fenoldopam 100 mg or placebo. Fenoldopam produced a significant fall in systolic (P less than 0.05) and diastolic (P less than 0.01) blood pressure and renal vascular resistance (P less than 0.01). Urine flow rate (P less than 0.05), sodium excretion (P less than 0.01), plasma renin activity (P less than 0.05) and plasma aldosterone (P less than 0.05) increased. Five patients underwent measurement of the above parameters following a single dose of fenoldopam 100 mg with a repeat of these measurements after they had taken fenoldopam 100 mg four times daily for 1 month. The acute response of blood pressure to the single dose appeared unchanged but tachyphylaxis was evident in the responses of heart rate, plasma renin activity and plasma aldosterone. PMID:2868748

The mouse 90-kDa heat shock protein (HSP90) and Ca(2+)-calmodulin were cross-linked at an equimolar ratio using a carbodiimide zero-length cross-linker. To identify the calmodulin-binding domain(s) of HSP90, CNBr-cleaved peptide fragments of HSP90 were mixed with Ca(2+)-calmodulin and cross-linked. Amino acid sequence determination revealed that an HSP90 alpha-derived peptide starting at the 486th amino acid residue was contained in the cross-linked products, which contains a calmodulin-binding motif (from Lys500 to Ile520). A similar motif is present also in HSP90 beta (from Lys491 to Val511). The synthetic peptides corresponding to these putative calmodulin-binding sequences were found to be cross-linked with Ca(2+)-calmodulin and to prevent the cross-linking of HSP90 and Ca(2+)-calmodulin. Both HSP90 alpha and HSP90 beta bind Ca2+. The HSP90 peptides bind HSP90 and thereby inhibit the binding of Ca2+. In addition, the HSP90 peptides augment the self-oligomerization of HSP90 induced at elevated temperatures. These results suggest that the calmodulin-binding domain of HSP90 might interact with another part of the same molecule and that Ca(2+)-calmodulin might modulate the structure and function of HSP90 through abolishing the intramolecular interaction. PMID:8486648

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) induces physical, cognitive, and psychosocial deficits that affect millions of patients. TBI activates numerous cellular mechanisms and molecular cascades that produce detrimental outcomes, including neuronal death and loss of function. The mitochondrion is one of the major targets of TBI, as seen by increased mitochondrial activity in activated and proliferating microglia (due to high energy requirements and/or calcium overload) as well as increased reactive oxygen species, changes in mitochondrial permeability transition, release of cytochrome c, caspase activation, reduced ATP levels, and cell death in neurons. Translocator protein (TSPO) is an 18-kDa outer mitochondrial membrane protein that interacts with the mitochondria permeability transition pore and binds with high affinity to cholesterol and various classes of drug ligands, including some benzodiazepines such as 4′-chlorodiazepam (Ro5-4864). Although TSPO levels in the brain are low, they are increased after brain injury and inflammation. This finding has led to the proposed use of TSPO expression as a marker of brain injury and repair. TSPO drug ligands have been shown to participate in the control of mitochondrial respiration and function, mitochondrial steroid and neurosteroid formation, as well as apoptosis. This review and commentary will outline our current knowledge of the benefits of targeting TSPO for TBI treatment and the mechanisms underlying the neuroprotective effects of TSPO drug ligands in neurotrauma. PMID:19409385

Translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) was previously known as the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) in eukaryotes, where it is mainly localized to the mitochondrial outer membrane. Considerable evidence indicates that it plays regulatory roles in steroidogenesis and apoptosis and is involved in various human diseases, such as metastatic cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, inflammation, and anxiety disorders. Ligands of TSPO are widely used as diagnostic tools and treatment options, despite there being no clear understanding of the function of TSPO. An ortholog in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter was independently discovered as the tryptophan-rich sensory protein (TspO) and found to play a role in the response to changes in oxygen and light conditions that regulate photosynthesis and respiration. As part of this highly conserved protein family found in all three kingdoms, the rat TSPO is able to rescue the knockout phenotype in Rhodobacter, indicating functional as well as structural conservation. Recently, a major breakthrough in the field was achieved: the determination of atomic-resolution structures of TSPO from different species by several independent groups. This now allows us to reexamine the function of TSPO with a molecular perspective. In this review, we focus on recently determined structures of TSPO and their implications for potential functions of this ubiquitous multifaceted protein. We suggest that TSPO is an ancient bacterial receptor/stress sensor that has developed additional interactions, partners, and roles in its mitochondrial outer membrane environment in eukaryotes. PMID:27074410

The 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) localizes in the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) of cells and is readily up-regulated under various pathological conditions such as cancer, inflammation, mechanical lesions and neurological diseases. Able to bind with high affinity synthetic and endogenous ligands, its core biochemical function resides in the translocation of cholesterol into the mitochondria influencing the subsequent steps of (neuro-)steroid synthesis and systemic endocrine regulation. Over the years, however, TSPO has also been linked to core cellular processes such as apoptosis and autophagy. It interacts and forms complexes with other mitochondrial proteins such as the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) via which signalling and regulatory transduction of these core cellular events may be influenced. Despite nearly 40 years of study, the precise functional role of TSPO beyond cholesterol trafficking remains elusive even though the recent breakthroughs on its high-resolution crystal structure and contribution to quality-control signalling of mitochondria. All this along with a captivating pharmacological profile provides novel opportunities to investigate and understand the significance of this highly conserved protein as well as contribute the development of specific therapeutics as presented and discussed in the present review. PMID:26733718

Cholera toxin causes the devastating diarrheal syndrome characteristic of cholera by catalyzing the ADP-ribosylation of Gs alpha, a GTP-binding regulatory protein, resulting in activation of adenylyl cyclase. ADP-ribosylation of Gs alpha is enhanced by 19 kDa guanine nucleotide-binding proteins known as ADP-ribosylation factors or ARFs. We investigated the effects of agents known to alter toxin-catalyzed activation of adenylyl cyclase on the stimulation of toxin- and toxin subunit-catalyzed ADP-ribosylation of Gs alpha and other substrates by an ADP-ribosylation factor purified from a soluble fraction of bovine brain (sARF II). In the presence of GTP, sARF II enhanced activity of both the toxin catalytic unit and a reduced and alkylated fragment ('A1'), as a result of an increase in substrate affinity with no significant effects on Vmax. Activation of toxin was independent of Gs alpha and was stimulated 4-fold by sodium dodecyl sulfate, but abolished by Triton X-100. sARF II therefore serves as a direct allosteric activator of the A1 protein and may thus amplify the pathological effects of cholera toxin. PMID:2112955

Tacrolimus is a widely used immunosuppressive drug that inhibits the phosphatase calcineurin when bound to the 12 kDa FK506-binding protein (FKBP12). When this binding occurs in T cells, it leads to immunosuppression. Tacrolimus also causes side effects, however, such as hypertension and hyperkalemia. Previously, we reported that tacrolimus stimulates the renal thiazide-sensitive sodium chloride cotransporter (NCC), which is necessary for the development of hypertension. However, it was unclear if tacrolimus-induced hypertension resulted from tacrolimus effects in renal epithelial cells directly or in extrarenal tissues, and whether inhibition of calcineurin was required. To address these questions, we developed a mouse model in which FKBP12 could be deleted along the nephron. FKBP12 disruption alone did not cause phenotypic effects. When treated with tacrolimus, however, BP and the renal abundance of phosphorylated NCC were lower in mice lacking FKBP12 along the nephron than in control mice. Mice lacking FKBP12 along the nephron also maintained a normal relationship between plasma potassium levels and the abundance of phosphorylated NCC with tacrolimus treatment. In cultured cells, tacrolimus inhibited dephosphorylation of NCC. Together, these results suggest that tacrolimus causes hypertension predominantly by inhibiting calcineurin directly in cells expressing NCC, indicating thiazide diuretics may be particularly effective for lowering BP in tacrolimus-treated patients with hypertension. PMID:26432904

Thermophilic and alkaliphilic lipases are meeting a growing global attention as their increased importance in several industrial fields. Over 23 bacterial strains, novel strain with high lipolytic activity was isolated from Southern Sinai, Egypt, and it was identified as Geobacillus thermoleovorans DA2 using 16S rRNA as well as morphological and biochemical features. The lipase was produced in presence of fatty restaurant wastes as an inducing substrate. The optimized conditions for lipase production were recorded to be temperature 60°C, pH 10, and incubation time for 48 hrs. Enzymatic production increased when the organism was grown in a medium containing galactose as carbon source and ammonium phosphate as nitrogen source at concentrations of 1 and 0.5% (w/v), respectively. Moreover, the optimum conditions for lipase production such as substrate concentration, inoculum size, and agitation rate were found to be 10% (w/v), 4% (v/v), and 120 rpm, respectively. The TA lipase with Triton X-100 had the best degreasing agent by lowering the total lipid content to 2.6% as compared to kerosene (7.5%) or the sole crude enzyme (8.9%). It can be concluded that the chemical leather process can be substituted with TA lipase for boosting the quality of leather and reducing the environmental hazards. PMID:26881066

Hypostomus sp 3-Córrego Salobrinha NUP 4247 and Hypostomus sp 2-Rio Perdido NUP 4249, collected in the Planalto da Bodoquena, Paraguay River basin, Brazil, were characterized cytogenetically. Hypostomus sp 3-Córrego Salobrinha showed two modal numbers. This polymorphism consists of the presence of two extrachromosomes. It was not possible to define the diploid number in four specimens, where cell lineages had 2n = 83 and 2n = 84 chromosomes in one individual, and 2n = 82, 2n = 83 and 2n = 84 chromosomes in the others. These results reveal the existence of a genetic mosaic due to the occurrence of one or two extrachromosomes in this species. Hypostomus sp 2-Rio Perdido NUP 4249 showed a 2n = 84, FN = 106 with size heteromorphism in one pair of chromosomes stained with AgNO3. In both species, C banding showed a pattern of heterochromatin distribution with a few small bands in the centromeric and pericentromeric regions coinciding with chromomycin A3 staining. Until now, the major diploid number for the genus Hypostomus was 2n = 80, but the species studied here had chromosomes that in creased this number and the variation for this genus. Our results are also the first cytogenetic data on Hypostomus from the Paraguay River basin. PMID:18752185

Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and validity of a dedicated da Vinci single-port platform in the porcine model in the performance of gynecologic surgery. Methods: This pilot study was conducted in 4 female pigs. All pigs had a general anesthetic and were placed in the supine and flank position. A 2-cm umbilical incision was made, through which a robotic single-port device was placed and pneumoperitoneum obtained. A data set was collected for each procedure and included port placement time, docking time, operative time, blood loss, and complications. Operative times were compared between cases and procedures by use of the Student t test. Results: A total of 28 surgical procedures (8 oophorectomies, 4 hysterectomies, 8 pelvic lymph node dissections, 4 aorto-caval nodal dissections, 2 bladder repairs, 1 uterine horn anastomosis, and 1 radical cystectomy) were performed. There was no statistically significant difference in operating times for symmetrical procedures among animals (P=0.3215). Conclusions: This animal study demonstrates that single-port robotic surgery using a dedicated single-site platform allows performing technically challenging procedures within acceptable operative times and without complications or insertion of additional trocars. PMID:21902962

We present improved calculations for the Stark broadening of hydrogen lines in dense plasmas typical of white dwarf atmospheres. Our new model is based on the unified theory of Stark broadening from Vidal, Cooper, and Smith. For the first time, we account for the nonideal effects in a consistent way directly inside the line profile calculations. The Hummer and Mihalas theory is used to describe the nonideal effects due to perturbations on the absorber from protons and electrons. We use a truncation of the electric microfield distribution in the quasi-static proton broadening to take into account the fact that high electric microfields dissociate the upper state of a transition. This approach represents a significant improvement over previous calculations that relied on the use of an ad hoc parameter to mimic these nonideal effects. We obtain the first model spectra with line profiles that are consistent with the equation of state. We revisit the properties of DA stars in the range 40,000 K >T eff> 13,000 K by analyzing the optical spectra with our improved models. The updated atmospheric parameters are shown to differ substantially from those published in previous studies, with a mean mass shifted by +0.034 M sun. We also show that these revised atmospheric parameters yield absolute visual magnitudes that remain in excellent agreement with trigonometric parallax measurements.

Nucleoporin 88 kDa (Nup88) is a tumor marker, overexpressed in various types of cancer. In Drosophila Nup88 (mbo) was reported to selectively mediate the nucleocytoplasmic transport of NF-{kappa}B, an ubiquitous transcription factor involved in immune responses, apoptosis, and cancer. We addressed the function of Nup88 in mammalian cells. Selective depletion of Nup88 by small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibited NF-{kappa}B-dependent reporter gene activation and the nuclear translocation of NF-{kappa}B without affecting the upstream activation pathway in NIH3T3 cells. In contrast, nuclear translocation of glucocorticoid receptor was not reduced by the depletion of Nup88. In metastatic melanoma cells overexpressing Nup88, constitutive activation of NF-{kappa}B was found both in nucleus and cytoplasm. Nup88 depletion in these cells reduced TNF-induced nuclear accumulation of NF-{kappa}B subunits. We conclude that Nup88 regulates the activity of NF-{kappa}B at the level of nucleocytoplasmic transport. Overexpression of Nup88 in tumor cells may, thus be involved in the constitutive NF-{kappa}B activation.

The problems of nonradiative heating of outer atmospheric layers and p-mode oscillations in white dwarfs caused by acoustic waves generated in convective zones are discussed. These effects have been studied by calculating the cutoff periods for adiabatic and isothermal waves propagating in atmospheres of DA and DB stars with Teff greater than or equal 20,000 K and log g = 6-9. The obtained cutoff periods are approximately bounded by 0.01 and 40 sec for high- and low-gravity white dwarfs, respectively. Expected amplitudes of p-mode oscillations corresponding to trapped acoustic waves with small angular wave numbers are estimated, indicating that the amplitudes could be observed as Doppler shifts of spectral lines which might be detectable if adequate spectral resolution were available. The luminosity variations corresponding to these amplitudes are unlikely to be observable when all damping processes are accounted for. Results also indicate that the present theory of convection predicts some irregularities in the behavior of physical parameters. 34 refs.

Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) is a key intra- and extra-cellular protease which contributes to several oxidative stress related pathologies. A molecular understanding of 72 kDa MMP-2 activity, directly mediated by S-glutathiolation of its cysteine residues in the presence of peroxynitrite (ONOO−) and by phosphorylation of its serine and threonine residues, is essential to develop new generation inhibitors of intracellular MMP-2. Within its propeptide and collagen binding domains there is an interesting juxtaposition of predicted phosphorylation sites with nearby cysteine residues which form disulfide bonds. However, the combined effect of these two post-translational modifications on MMP-2 activity has not been studied. The activity of human recombinant 72 kDa MMP-2 (hrMMP-2) following in vitro treatments was measured by troponin I proteolysis assay and a kinetic activity assay using a fluorogenic peptide substrate. ONOO− treatment in the presence of 30 µM glutathione resulted in concentration-dependent changes in MMP-2 activity, with 0.1–1 µM increasing up to twofold and 100 µM attenuating its activity. Dephosphorylation of MMP-2 with alkaline phosphatase markedly increased its activity by sevenfold, either with or without ONOO−. Dephosphorylation of MMP-2 also affected the conformational structure of the enzyme as revealed by circular dichroism studies, suggesting an increase in the proportion of α-helices and a decrease in β-strands compared to the phosphorylated form of MMP-2. These results suggest that ONOO− activation (at low µM) and inactivation (at high µM) of 72 kDa MMP-2, in the presence or absence of glutathione, is also influenced by its phosphorylation status. These insights into the role of post-translational modifications in the structure and activity of 72 kDa MMP-2 will aid in the development of inhibitors specifically targeting intracellular MMP-2. PMID:24013357

Theoretical reflection whose goal is to demonstrate the art a nursing team is required to show in order to perform a technical procedure for transfer of solutions from a normal vial to a microdrops vial, based on Leonardo Da Vinci's theoretical referential, inspired by his work called "Vitruvian Man", so that body harmony is kept. The authors emphasize its relationship to nursing care, viewing it from its broadest sense, and its own motto--"Science, Art and Ideal". PMID:15199842

Modern large-scale surveys have allowed the identification of large numbers of white dwarfs. However, these surveys are subject to complicated target selection algorithms, which make it almost impossible to quantify to what extent the observational biases affect the observed populations. The LAMOST (Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope) Spectroscopic Survey of the Galactic anticentre (LSS-GAC) follows a well-defined set of criteria for selecting targets for observations. This advantage over previous surveys has been fully exploited here to identify a small yet well-characterized magnitude-limited sample of hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarfs. We derive preliminary LSS-GAC DA white dwarf luminosity and mass functions. The space density and average formation rate of DA white dwarfs we derive are 0.83 ± 0.16 × 10-3 pc-3 and 5.42 ± 0.08 × 10-13 pc-3 yr-1, respectively. Additionally, using an existing Monte Carlo population synthesis code we simulate the population of single DA white dwarfs in the Galactic anticentre, under various assumptions. The synthetic populations are passed through the LSS-GAC selection criteria, taking into account all possible observational biases. This allows us to perform a meaningful comparison of the observed and simulated distributions. We find that the LSS-GAC set of criteria is highly efficient in selecting white dwarfs for spectroscopic observations (80-85 per cent) and that, overall, our simulations reproduce well the observed luminosity function. However, they fail at reproducing an excess of massive white dwarfs present in the observed mass function. A plausible explanation for this is that a sizable fraction of massive white dwarfs in the Galaxy are the product of white dwarf-white dwarf mergers.

The transactive response DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) is a major component of the abnormal intracellular inclusions that occur in two common neurodegenerative diseases of humans: (1) a subtype of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and (2) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Genetics, experiments in cultured cells and animals, and analogy with other neurodegenerative diseases indicate that the process of TDP-43 aggregation is fundamental to the pathogenesis of these 2 diseases, but the process by which this aggregation occurs is not understood. Biochemical fractionation has revealed truncated, phosphorylated and ubiquitinated forms of TDP-43 in a detergent-insoluble fraction from diseased CNS tissue, while these forms are absent from controls. However, a large amount of the normally predominant 43-kDa form of TDP-43 is present in the detergent-insoluble fraction even from control brains, so it has not been possible to determine if this form of TDP-43 is part of pathological aggregates in frontotemporal lobe degeneration. We used semi-denaturing detergent-agarose gel electrophoresis to isolate high molecular weight aggregates containing TDP-43 that are present in the cerebral cortex of individuals with frontotemporal lobar degeneration but not that of controls. These aggregates include the same covalently modified forms of TDP-43 seen in detergent-insoluble extracts. In addition, aggregates include a 43-kDa TDP-43 species. This aggregated 43-kDa form of TDP-43 is absent or present only at low levels in controls. The presence of 43-kDa TDP-43 in aggregates raises the possibility that covalent modification is not a primary step in the pathogenic aggregation of TDP-43 associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. PMID:23704877

The 70-kDa peroxisomal membrane protein (PXMPI) is a member of the ATP-binding cassette transporter family. In humans, mutations in this gene may be responsible for a subset of patients with Zellweger syndrome, a lethal inborn error of peroxisome assembly. The PXMPI gene was assigned to human chromosome 1p21-p22 by in situ hybridization and its murine homologue (Pxmp-1) to chromosome 3 by interspecific backcross analysis. 19 refs., 2 figs.

1. The effects of mesulergine, a 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor antagonist with dopamine (DA) agonistic properties, on rats diet selection over a seven day period and on 5-HT and DA turnover was studied. 2. Three groups of male Wistar rats were individually caged and ad libitum fed with a standard (SD) and 50% sweet carbohydrate enriched diet (CED). Food intake was measured daily 4 hrs and 24 hrs after i.p. injections of mesulergine (1 and 3 mg/kg) or vehicle. 5-HT and 5-HIAA in hypothalamus (Hy), Striatum (St) and hippocampus (Hi) as well as DA and DOPAC in (Hy) and (St) were assayed at the 8th day of the experiment. 3. There was a dose dependent increase of SD consumption 4 hrs after mesulergine treatment while the CED remained unchanged with total food intake dose dependently increased as a consequence. At 24 hrs measurements SD consumption was increased only for the dose of 1 mg/kg of mesulergine, while a dose dependent decrease of CED intake was observed. Total food intake was unchanged for the dose of 1 mg/kg and decreased with the dose of 3 mg/kg consequently. A dose dependent decrease of rats body weight was observed too. 4. A significant increase of 5-HIAA/5-HT ratio in (Hy) and (St) for the dose of 1 mg/kg and in (Hi) for the dose of 3 mg/kg with no changes of DA turnover were found. 5. The above data suggest a dual mode of action of mesulergine presented as a short term hyperphagia due to simultaneous antiserotonergic and dopaminergic activity and long-term hypophagia due to long-term agonistic effects of dopaminergic neurons. PMID:9723121

The transactive response DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) is a major component of the abnormal intracellular inclusions that occur in two common neurodegenerative diseases of humans: (1) a subtype of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and (2) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Genetics, experiments in cultured cells and animals, and analogy with other neurodegenerative diseases indicate that the process of TDP-43 aggregation is fundamental to the pathogenesis of these 2 diseases, but the process by which this aggregation occurs is not understood. Biochemical fractionation has revealed truncated, phosphorylated and ubiquitinated forms of TDP-43 in a detergent-insoluble fraction from diseased CNS tissue, while these forms are absent from controls. However, a large amount of the normally predominant 43-kDa form of TDP-43 is present in the detergent-insoluble fraction even from control brains, so it has not been possible to determine if this form of TDP-43 is part of pathological aggregates in frontotemporal lobe degeneration. We used semi-denaturing detergent-agarose gel electrophoresis to isolate high molecular weight aggregates containing TDP-43 that are present in the cerebral cortex of individuals with frontotemporal lobar degeneration but not that of controls. These aggregates include the same covalently modified forms of TDP-43 seen in detergent-insoluble extracts. In addition, aggregates include a 43-kDa TDP-43 species. This aggregated 43-kDa form of TDP-43 is absent or present only at low levels in controls. The presence of 43-kDa TDP-43 in aggregates raises the possibility that covalent modification is not a primary step in the pathogenic aggregation of TDP-43 associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. PMID:23704877

A component of the photosystem II reaction center, the 32-kDa protein, is rapidly turned over in the light. The mechanism of its light-dependent metabolism is largely unknown. We quantified the rate of 32-kDa protein degradation over a broad spectral range (UV, visible, and far red). The quantum yield for degradation was highest in the UVB (280-320 nm) region. Spectral evidence demonstrates two distinctly different photosensitizers for 32-kDa protein degradation. The data implicate the bulk photosynthetic pigments (primarily chlorophyll) in the visible and far red regions, and plastoquinone (in one or more of its redox states) in the UV region. A significant portion of 32-kDa protein degradation in sunlight is attributed to UVB irradiance.

The 33-, 23-, and 16-kDa proteins of the photosynthetic oxygen-evolving complex are synthesized as precursors in the cytoplasm and transported into the thylakoid lumen of higher plant chloroplasts. In this report we have analyzed the import and maturation of these precursors, using reconstituted protein import assays and partially purified preparations of the processing peptidases involved. Precursors of the 33- and 23-kDa proteins from Spinacia and Triticum aestivum are processed by a stromal peptidase to intermediate forms; polypeptides of similar size are observed during the transport of these precursors and possibly that of the 16-kDa protein, into isolated chloroplasts. Complete maturation of the 33- and 23-kDa proteins is carried out by a thylakoidal peptidase shown previously to be involved in plastocyanin biogenesis. The data support an import mechanism involving successive cleavages by the stromal and thylakoidal processing peptidases. PMID:2684958

Background and Purpose ρ-Da1a, a 65 amino-acid peptide, has subnanomolar affinity and high selectivity for the human α1A-adrenoceptor subtype. The purpose of this study was to characterize the pharmacological effects of ρ-Da1a on prostatic function, both in vivo and in vitro. Experimental Approach ρ-Da1a was tested as an antagonist of adrenaline-induced effects on COS cells transfected with the human α1A-adrenoceptor as well as on human isolated prostatic adenoma obtained from patients suffering from benign prostatic hyperplasia. Moreover, we compared the effects of ρ-Da1a and tamsulosin on phenylephrine (PHE)-induced increases in intra-urethral (IUP) and arterial pressures (AP) in anaesthetized rats, following i.v. or p.o. administration. Key Results On COS cells expressing human α1A-adrenoceptors and on human prostatic strips, ρ-Da1a inhibited adrenaline- and noradrenaline-induced effects. In anaesthetized rats, ρ-Da1a and tamsulosin administered i.v. 30 min before PHE significantly antagonized the effects of PHE on IUP. The pKB values for tamsulosin and ρ-Da1a for this effect were similar. With regards to AP, ρ-Da1a only reduced the effect of PHE on AP at the lowest dose tested (10 μg·kg−1), whereas tamsulosin significantly reduced PHE effects at doses between 10 and 150 μg·kg−1. Conclusions and Implications ρ-Da1a exhibited a relevant effect on IUP and a small effect on AP. In contrast, tamsulosin antagonized the effects of PHE on both IUP and AP. We conclude that ρ-Da1a is more uroselective than tamsulosin. ρ-Da1a is the most selective peptidic antagonist for α1A-adenoceptors identified to date and could be a new treatment for various urological diseases. PMID:23005263

The spectral distribution of field white dwarfs shows a feature called the 'non-DA gap'. As defined by Bergeron et al., this is a temperature range (5100-6100 K) where relatively few non-DA stars are found, even though such stars are abundant on either side of the gap. It is usually viewed as an indication that a significant fraction of white dwarfs switch their atmospheric compositions back and forth between hydrogen-rich and helium-rich as they cool. In this Letter, we present a Monte Carlo model of the Galactic disk white dwarf population, based on the spectral evolution model of Chen and Hansen. We find that the non-DA gap emerges naturally, even though our model only allows white dwarf atmospheres to evolve monotonically from hydrogen-rich to helium-rich through convective mixing. We conclude by discussing the effects of convective mixing on the white dwarf luminosity function and the use thereof for Cosmochronology.

A functional and stable truncated-phycoerythrin (T-PE) was found as a result of spontaneous in vitro truncation. Truncation was noticed to occur during storage of purified native-phycoerythrin (N-PE) isolated from Lyngbya sp. A09DM. SDS and native-PAGE analysis revealed the truncation of N-PE, containing α (19.0 kDa)--and β (21.5 kDa)--subunits to the only single peptide of ∼15.45 kDa (T-PE). The peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) and MS/MS analysis indicated that T-PE is the part of α-subunit of N-PE. UV-visible absorption peak of N-PE was found to split into two peaks (540 and 565 nm) after truncation, suggesting the alterations in its folded state. The emission spectra of both N-PE and T-PE show the emission band centered at 581 nm (upon excitation at 559 nm) suggested the maintenance of fluorescence even after significant truncation. Urea-induced denaturation and Gibbs-free energy (ΔGD°) calculations suggested that the folding and structural stability of T-PE was almost similar to that of N-PE. Presented bunch of evidences revealed the truncation in N-PE without perturbing its folding, structural stability and functionality (fluorescence), and thereby suggested its applicability in fluorescence based biomedical techniques where smaller fluorescence molecules are more preferable. PMID:25485942

The authors have isolated and characterized a plasmid (pChug 20.1) that contains the cDNA of a nuclear uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG) gene isolated from normal human placenta. This cDNA directed the synthesis of a fusion protein that exhibited UDG activity. The enzymatic activity was specific for a uracil-containing polynucleotide substrate and was inhibited by a glycosylase antibody or a {beta}-galactosidase antibody. Sequence analysis demonstrated an open reading frame that encoded a protein of 335 amino acids of calculated M{sub r} 36,050 and pI 8.7, corresponding to the M{sub r} 37,000 and pI 8.1 of purified human placental UDG. Surprisingly, a search of the GenBank data base revealed that the cDNA of UDG was completely homologous with the 378-kDa subunit of human glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Human erythrocyte glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was obtained commercially in its tetrameric form. A 37-kDa subunit was isolated form it and shown to possess UDG activity equivalent to that seen for the purified human placental UDG. The multiple functions of this 37-kDa protein as here and previously reported indicate that it possesses a series of activities, depending on its oligomeric state. Accordingly, mutation(s) in the gene of this multifunctional protein may conceivably result in the diverse cellular phenotypes of Bloom syndrome.

Development of a specific immunoassay to detect Helicobacter pylori infection in stool samples requires monoclonal antibody against the specific antigen. The aims of this study were to establish monoclonal antibodies against the 26 kDa protein of H. pylori and develop an immunodot blot for their application to recognize H. pylori infection using stool samples. Mice were immunized intraperitoneally with homogenized gel containing the 26 kDa band of cell surface proteins of H. pylori in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The monoclonal antibodies were produced using the hybridoma technique. Reactivity of monoclonal antibodies was tested with the purified 26 kDa antigen and cell surface proteins from cultured H. pylori by ELISA. Furthermore reactivity of monoclonal antibodies was tested on negative and positive stool samples for H. pylori and suspensions of several major bacteria in stool by immunodot blot assay. Five stable hybridoma monoclones were obtained. The concordant reactivity of the monoclonal antibodies with H. pylori present in the stool samples, which had been tested previously using an ACON ELISA kit for H. pylori stool antigen testing, and unreactivity with several different major fecal bacteria in immunodot blotting indicates high specificity of the immunodot blot based on the reaction of produced monoclonal antibodies with the H. pylori antigen in stools. The findings indicate that the novel immunodot blot developed based on new monoclonal antibodies for stool antigens would be useful as a noninvasive method of diagnosing H. pylori infection. PMID:23244318

In 1797, under von Zach sponsoring, Wilhelm Olbers published his work on the determination of the parabolic orbits of the comets - "Abhandlung tiber die leichteste und bequemste Methode, die Bahn eines Cometen aus einigen Beobachtungen zu berechnen von Wilhelm Olbers". Over the next century, this method would become the main tool to determine comets' parabolic orbits. Two years later, in 1799, an article of Monteiro da Rocha entitled "Determinação das Orbitas dos Cometas" is published in Memórias da Academia Real das Ciências de Lisboa. This study publishes a method to solve the problem of the determination of comets' orbits very similar with the one proposed by Olbers. In the current article we intend to provide some information about the method of Monteiro da Rocha, which in fact was formerly formulated circa 16-17 years in advance to Olbers method, and to present the results of the quantitative side-by-side comparison of methods.

Aqueous extracts and a semipurified fraction obtained by methanol extraction and column chromatography were isolated from Ganoderma lucidum [Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst.; Ganodermataceae Donk] and their effects on interleukin 3-dependent lymphoma cells (DA-1) were studied. Cell viability was reduced by the action of unboiled aqueous extract and by the methanol-extracted column-chromatography semipurified fraction, producing DNA fragmentation in DA-1 cells. Treatments with aqueous extracts showed increments of Bax after 13 h, increments of p53 and Mdm2 after 19 h and a reduction of these three proteins after 24 h. The methanol-extracted semipurified fraction also induced increments of p53 and Mdm2 factors at 19 h with a reduction after 24 h. The methanol-extracted column-chromatography semipurified fraction from Ganoderma lucidum produced minor changes in the level of Akt after treatments for 19 h in DA-1 cells with a slight reduction in the levels of NFkB-p65 factor. Both the unboiled aqueous extract and the methanol-extracted column-chromatography semipurified fraction produced cleavage of inactive caspase 3, as a clear indication of induction of apoptosis by compounds present in Ganoderma lucidum. PMID:20568239

The capacities of the cattle cord blood low-molecular fraction (below 5 kDa) and Actovegin (the vealer blood fraction (below 5 kDa)) for recovering functions of cell cultures after cryopreservation compared. Their influence proliferation of the flozen-thawed cell cultures, certain stages of their growth, cell attachment, rate of cell spreading, and mitotic regiment has been studied. Both the cord blood low-molecular fraction and Actovegin were shown to stimulate growth of the cell cultures after cryopreservation more efficiently at the concentration of 224 μg/ml. However, despite the stimulating effect discovered, their application did not bring proliferative indices on the 1st passage after cryopreservation to the values of the native culture. The effects of the cord blood low-molecular fraction and Actovegin on the human fibroblast culture were identical by the following parameters: cell attachment, rates of cell spreading and proliferation. In culture BHK-21 clone 13/04 the efficiency of Actovegin was low, while the cord blood low-molecular fraction has a conspicuous stimulating effect on its adhesion and proliferation. The investigations carried out can serve as a basis for the development of regenerative media containing the cattle cord blood low-molecular fraction (below 5 kDa) or Actovegin as active components at the concentration of 224 μg/ml with the purpose of fast recovery of culture prolifetative properties after cryopreservation. PMID:25508566

The capacities of the cattle cord blood low-molecular fraction (below 5 kDa) and Actovegin (the vealer blood fraction (below 5 kDa)) for recovering functions of cell cultures after cryopreservation compared. Their influence proliferation of the flozen-thawed cell cultures, certain stages of their growth, cell attachment, rate of cell spreading, and mitotic regiment has been studied. Both the cord blood low-molecular fraction and Actovegin were shown to stimulate growth of the cell cultures after cryopreservation more efficiently at the concentration of 224 μg/ml. However, despite the stimulating effect discovered, their application did not bring proliferative indices on the 1st passage after cryopreservation to the values of the native culture. The effects of the cord blood low-molecular fraction and Actovegin on the human fibroblast culture were identical by the following parameters: cell attachment, rates of cell spreading and proliferation. In culture BHK-21 clone 13/04 the efficiency of Actovegin was low, while the cord blood low-molecular fraction has a conspicuous stimulating effect on its adhesion and proliferation. The investigations carried out can serve as a basis for the development of regenerative media containing the cattle cord blood low-molecular fraction (below 5 kDa) or Actovegin as active components at the concentration of 224 μg/ml with the purpose of fast recovery of culture prolifetative properties after cryopreservation. PMID:25470939

Video monitoring system (VMS) has been extensively applied in domains of target recognition, traffic management, remote sensing, auto navigation and national defence. However the VMS has a strong dependence on the weather, for instance, in foggy weather, the quality of images received by the VMS are distinct degraded and the effective range of VMS is also decreased. All in all, the VMS performs terribly in bad weather. Thus the research of fog degraded images enhancement has very high theoretical and practical application value. A design scheme of a fog degraded images enhancement system based on the TI DaVinci processor is presented in this paper. The main function of the referred system is to extract and digital cameras capture images and execute image enhancement processing to obtain a clear image. The processor used in this system is the dual core TI DaVinci DM6467T - ARM@500MHz+DSP@1GH. A MontaVista Linux operating system is running on the ARM subsystem which handles I/O and application processing. The DSP handles signal processing and the results are available to the ARM subsystem in shared memory.The system benefits from the DaVinci processor so that, with lower power cost and smaller volume, it provides the equivalent image processing capability of a X86 computer. The outcome shows that the system in this paper can process images at 25 frames per second on D1 resolution.

Cleavage of caldesmon with chymotrypsin yields a series of fragments which bind both calmodulin and actin and inhibit the binding of myosin subfragments to actin and the subsequent stimulation of ATPase activity. Several of these fragments have been purified by cation exchange chromatography and their amino-terminal sequences determined. The smallest fragment has a molecular mass of about 7.3 kDa and extends from Leu597 to Phe665. This polypeptide inhibits the actin-activated ATPase of myosin S-1; this inhibition is augmented by smooth muscle tropomyosin and relieved by Ca2+-calmodulin. The binding of the 7.3-kDa fragment to actin is competitive with the binding of S - 1 to actin. Thus, this polypeptide has several of the important features characteristic of intact caldesmon. However, although an intact caldesmon molecule covers between six and nine actin monomers, the 7.3-kDa fragment binds to actin in a 1:1 complex. Comparison of this fragment with others suggests that a small region of caldesmon is responsible for at least part of the interaction with both calmodulin and actin. PMID:1386604

Sessile marine invertebrates undergo constant direct exposure to the surrounding environmental conditions, including local and global environmental fluctuations that may lead to fatal protein damage. Induction of heat shock proteins (Hsps) constitutes an important defense mechanism that protects these organisms from deleterious stress conditions. In a previous study, we reported the immunological detection of a 60-kDa Hsp (Hsp60) in the sea anemone Anemonia viridis (formerly called Anemonia sulcata) and studied its expression under a variety of stress conditions. In the present study, we show that the sponge Tetilla sp. from tidal habitats with a highly variable temperature regime is characterized by an increased level of Hsp60. Moreover, we show the expression of Hsp60 in various species among Porifera and Cnidaria, suggesting a general importance of this protein among marine invertebrates. We further cloned the hsp60 gene from A viridis, using a combination of conventional protein isolation methods and screening of a complementary deoxyribonucleic acid library by polymerase chain reaction. The cloned sequence (1764 bp) encodes for a protein of 62.8 kDa (588 amino acids). The 62.8-kDa protein, which contains an amino terminal extension that may serve as a mitochondrial targeting signal, shares a significant identity with mitochondrial Hsp60s from several animals but less identity with Hsp60s from either bacteria or plants. PMID:15270076

Agent Orange (AO) was the main defoliant used by the US in Vietnam from 1961 to 1971; AO was contaminated with dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD). Three major dioxin “hot spots” remain from previous AO storage and use at former US bases at Bien Hoa, Da Nang, and Phu Cat, posing potential health risks for Vietnamese living on or near these hot spots. We evaluated potential risk factors contributing to serum TCDD levels in Vietnamese residents at and near contaminated sites in Da Nang and Bien Hoa, Vietnam. We used multiple linear regression to analyze possible associations of blood dioxin concentrations with demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and dietary risk factors for residents living on or near these hot spots. For the Da Nang study, fish farming on the site, living on property flooded from monsoon rains, and age were among the factors showing significant positive associations with serum TCDD concentrations. For the Bien Hoa study, fish farmers working at this site and their immediate family members had significantly higher serum TCDD concentrations. Our results suggest that water-related activities, especially fish-farming, at the hot spots increased the risk of exposure to dioxin. PMID:25463251

True catalases are tyrosine-liganded, usually tetrameric, hemoproteins with subunit sizes of ∼55–84 kDa. Recently characterized hemoproteins with a catalase-related structure, yet lacking in catalatic activity, include the 40–43 kDa allene oxide synthases of marine invertebrates and cyanobacteria. Herein, we describe the 1.8 Å X-ray crystal structure of a 33 kDa subunit hemoprotein from Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (annotated as MAP-2744c), that retains the core elements of the catalase fold and exhibits an organic peroxide-dependent peroxidase activity. MAP-2744c exhibits negligible catalatic activity, weak peroxidatic activity using hydrogen peroxide (20/s) and strong peroxidase activity (∼300/s) using organic hydroperoxides as co-substrate. Key amino acid differences significantly impact prosthetic group conformation and placement and confer a distinct activity to this prototypical member of a group of conserved bacterial “minicatalases”. Its structural features and the result of the enzyme assays support a role for MAP-2744c and its close homologues in mitigating challenge by a variety of reactive oxygen species. PMID:19827095

Current high-throughput top-down proteomic platforms provide routine identification of proteins less than 25 kDa with 4-D separations. This short communication reports the application of technological developments over the past few years that improve protein identification and characterization for masses greater than 25 kDa. Advances in separation science have allowed increased numbers of proteins to be identified, especially by nanoliquid chromatography (nLC) prior to mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. Further, a goal of high-throughput top-down proteomics is to extend the mass range for routine nLC MS analysis up to 80 kDa because gene sequence analysis predicts that ~70% of the human proteome is transcribed to be less than 80 kDa. Normally, large proteins greater than 50 kDa are identified and characterized by top-down proteomics through fraction collection and direct infusion at relatively low throughput. Further, other MS-based techniques provide top-down protein characterization, however at low resolution for intact mass measurement. Here, we present analysis of standard (up to 78 kDa) and whole cell lysate proteins by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (nLC electrospray ionization (ESI) FTICR MS). The separation platform reduced the complexity of the protein matrix so that, at 14.5 T, proteins from whole cell lysate up to 72 kDa are baseline mass resolved on a nano-LC chromatographic time scale. Further, the results document routine identification of proteins at improved throughput based on accurate mass measurement (less than 10 ppm mass error) of precursor and fragment ions for proteins up to 50 kDa. PMID:22356091

To determine the contribution of charged amino acids to binding with the photosystem II complex (PSII), the amino or carboxyl groups of the extrinsic 18 kDa protein were modified with N-succinimidyl propionate (NSP) or glycine methyl ester (GME) in the presence of a water-soluble carbodiimide, respectively. Based on isoelectric point shift, 4-10 and 10-14 amino groups were modified in the presence of 2 and 4 mM NSP, respectively. Similarly, 3-4 carboxyl groups were modified by reaction with 100 mM GME. Neutralization of negatively charged carboxyl groups with GME did not alter the binding activity of the extrinsic 18 kDa protein. However, the NSP-modified 18 kDa protein, in which the positively charged amino groups had been modified to uncharged methyl esters, failed to bind with the PSII membrane in the presence of the extrinsic 23 kDa protein. This defect can not be attributed to structural or conformational alterations imposed by chemical modification, as the fluorescence and circular dichroism spectra among native, GME- and NSP-modified extrinsic 18 kDa proteins were similar. Thus, we have concluded that the positive charges of lysyl residues in the extrinsic 18 kDa protein are important for its interaction with PSII membranes in the presence of the extrinsic 23 kDa protein. Furthermore, it was found that the negative charges of carboxyl groups of this protein did not participate in binding with the extrinsic 23 kDa protein associated with PSII membranes. PMID:16270152

It is speculated that the transmission of an insulin signal across the plasma membrane of cells occurs through activation of the tyrosine-specific receptor kinase, autophosphorylation of the receptor, and subsequent phosphorylation of unidentified substrates in the cell. In an attempt to identify possible substrates, the authors labeled intact rat fat cells with (/sup 32/P)orthophosphate and used an antiphosphotyrosine antibody to identify proteins that become phosphorylated on tyrosine residues in an insulin-stimulated way. In the membrane fraction of the fat cells, they found, in addition to the 95-kDa ..beta..-subunit of the receptor, a 46-kDa phosphoprotein that is phosphorylated exclusively on tyrosine residues. This protein is not immunoprecipitated by antibodies against different regions of the insulin receptor and its HPLC tryptic peptide map is different from the tryptic peptide map of the insulin receptor, suggesting that it is not derived from the receptor ..beta..-subunit. Insulin stimulates the tyrosine phosphorylation of the 46-kDa protein within 150 sec in the intact cell 3- to 4-fold in a dose-dependent way at insulin concentrations between 0.5 nM and 100 nM. Insulin (0.5 nM, 100 nM) stimulated within 2 min the /sup 32/P incorporation into a 116-kDa band, a 62 kDa band, and three bands between 45 kDa and 50 kDa 2- to 10-fold. They suggest that the 46-kDa membrane protein and possibly also the soluble proteins are endogenous substrates of the receptor tyrosine kinase in fat cells and that their phosphorylation is an early step in insulin signal transmission.

Background and purpose: Recently, orthostatic hypotension was observed in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia who are taking vardenafil (a PDE 5 inhibitor) and terazosin (a long acting alpha blocker). Therefore, this study was performed with DA-8159 (a long acting PDE 5 inhibitor) and terazosin in rats to find whether or not pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions between the two drugs were observed. Experimental approach: Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (changes in blood pressure) interactions between DA-8159 and terazosin were evaluated after simultaneous i.v. and p.o. administration of DA-8159 (30 mg kg−1) and terazosin (5 mg kg−1) to male Sprague–Dawley rats. Key results: After simultaneous i.v. and p.o. administration of terazosin and DA-8159, the total area under the plasma concentration–time curve from time zero to time infinity (AUC) of terazosin became significantly greater (57.4 and 75.4% increase for i.v. and p.o. administration, respectively) than those of without DA-8159. The blood pressure dropping effect was considerable after simultaneous p.o. administration of DA-8159 and terazosin compared with each drug alone. Conclusions and implications: The significantly greater AUC of terazosin after both simultaneous i.v. and p.o. administration of both drugs could be due to the hepatic (both i.v. and p.o.) and intestinal (p.o.) inhibition of the metabolism of terazosin via CYP3A1 and/or 3A2 by DA-8159, since both DA-8159 and terazosin are metabolized via CYP3A1 and/or 3A2 in rats. The blood pressure lowering effect after simultaneous p.o. administration of both drugs could be due to significant increase in plasma concentrations of terazosin. PMID:17351661

The major outer membrane protein (OmpH) of 4 local Malaysian strains of Pasteurella multocida serotype B:2 were characterized in comparison to ATCC strains. Three major peptide bands of MW 26, 32 and 37 kDa were characterized using SDSPAGE. Two of these fragments, the 32 kDa and 37 kDa were observed to be more reactive with a mouse polyclonal antiserum in all of the local isolates as well as the ATCC strains in a Western blot. However, the 32 kDa fragment was found to cross react with other Gram negative bacteria. Therefore, the 37 kDa OmpH was selected as vaccine candidate. The 37 kDa ompH gene of the isolated strain 1710 was cloned into an Escherichia coli expression vector to produce large amounts of recombinant OmpH (rOmpH). The 37 kDa ompH gene of strain 1710 was sequenced. In comparison to a reference strain X-73 of the ompH of P. multocida, 39bp was found deleted in the 37 kDa ompH gene. However, the deletion did not shift the reading frame or change the amino acid sequence. The rOmpH was used in a mice protection study. Mice immunized and challenged intraperitoneally resulted 100% protection against P. multocida whilst mice immunized subcutaneously and challenged intraperitoneally only resulted 80% protection. The rOmpH is therefore a suitable candidate for vaccination field studies. The same rOmpH was also used to develop a potential diagnostic kit in an ELISA format. PMID:21399583

Background/Aims Therapies of functional dyspepsia (FD) are limited. DA-9701 is a novel prokinetic agent formulated with Pharbitis semen and Corydalis Tuber. We aimed to assess the efficacy of DA-9701 compared with itopride in FD patients. Methods Patients with FD randomly received either itopride 50 mg or DA-9701 30 mg t.i.d after a 2-week baseline period. After 4 weeks of treatment, 2 primary efficacy endpoints were analyzed: the change from baseline in composite score of the 8 dyspeptic symptoms and the overall treatment effect. Impact on patients’ quality of life was assessed using the Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) questionnaire. Results We randomly assigned 464 patients with 455 having outcome data. The difference of the composite score change of the 8 symptoms between the 2 groups was 0.62, indicating that DA-9701 was not inferior to itopride. The overall treatment effect response rate was not different between the groups. When responder was defined as ≥ 5 of the 7 Likert scale, responder rates were 37% of DA-9701 and 36% of itopride group. Patients receiving DA-9701 experienced similar mean percentage of days with adequate relief during the 4-week treatment period compared with those receiving itopride (56.8% vs 59.1%). Both drugs increased the NDI score of 5 domains without any difference in change of the NDI score between the groups. The safety profile of both drugs was comparable. Conclusions DA-9701 significantly improves symptoms in patients with FD. DA-9701 showed non-inferior efficacy to itopride with comparable safety. PMID:26130637

We present a method for measuring the Hubble parameter, H(z), and angular diameter distance, DA(z), from the two-dimensional two-point correlation function and validate it using LasDamas mock galaxy catalogues. Applying our method to the sample of luminous red galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we measure H(z=0.35)≡H(0.35)=82.1-4.9+4.8 km s-1 Mpc -1 and DA(z=0.35)≡DA(0.35)=1048-58+60 Mpc without assuming a dark energy model or a flat universe. We find that the derived measurements of H(0.35) rs(zd)/c and DA(0.35)/rs(zd) [where rs(zd) is the sound horizon at the drag epoch] are nearly uncorrelated, have tighter constraints and are more robust with respect to possible systematic effects. Our galaxy clustering measurements of {H(0.35) rs(zd)/c,DA(0.35)/rs(zd)}={0.0434±0.0018,6.60±0.26} (with the correlation coefficient r = 0.0604) can be used to combine with cosmic microwave background and any other cosmological data sets to constrain dark energy. Our results represent the first measurements of H(z) and DA(z) (or H(z) rs(zd)/c and DA(0.35)/rs(zd)) from galaxy clustering data. Our work has significant implications for future surveys in establishing the feasibility of measuring both H(z) and DA(z) from galaxy clustering data.

Alveolar formation is coupled to the spatiotemporally regulated differentiation of alveolar myofibroblasts (AMYFs), which contribute to the morphological changes of interalveolar walls. Although the Ras-ERK signaling pathway is one of the key regulators for alveolar formation in developing lungs, the intrinsic molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying its role remain largely unknown. By analyzing the Ras-ERK signaling pathway during postnatal development of lungs, we have identified a critical role of DA-Raf1 (DA-Raf)—a dominant-negative antagonist for the Ras-ERK signaling pathway—in alveolar formation. DA-Raf–deficient mice displayed alveolar dysgenesis as a result of the blockade of AMYF differentiation. DA-Raf is predominantly expressed in type 2 alveolar epithelial cells (AEC2s) in developing lungs, and DA-Raf–dependent MEK1/2 inhibition in AEC2s suppresses expression of tissue inhibitor of matalloprotienase 4 (TIMP4), which prevents a subsequent proteolytic cascade matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)14–MMP2. Furthermore, MMP14–MMP2 proteolytic cascade regulates AMYF differentiation and alveolar formation. Therefore, DA-Raf–dependent inhibition of the Ras-ERK signaling pathway in AEC2s is required for alveolar formation via triggering MMP2 activation followed by AMYF differentiation. These findings reveal a pivotal role of the Ras-ERK signaling pathway in the dynamic regulation of alveolar development. PMID:24843139